Song of the Soul
by TheProtobabe
Summary: Dancetale AU, a few years after the Pacifist ending of the game. When life is this hard living among humans, there isn't much time to dance. Sans has nearly forgotten the feeling of moving to a rhythm at all, but she enters his life and reminds him how. Descriptions of OC left vague for a semi Reader experience. Dancetale idea belongs to teandstars on Tumblr.
1. Getting Acquainted

The cool night air brushed against the soft glow of the crystals, whisking by gurgling streams and rushing around roaring waterfalls. Tall flowers, the size of sunflowers, lit the small pocket of space near them with their bioluminescence. They emitted strange sounds-like quiet babbling before a sermon. It was a peaceful place-quiet, mostly uninhabited except a small village that sat in the heart of the marsh. The nice thing about Waterfall was the abundance of hidden alcoves available to anyone who didn't want to be seen.

One such person-a stocky, hooded figure-appeared in one such place as if it had just stepped through a normal door. Strangely, however, no doors existed in this part of the marsh.

There was only the soft chirping of crickets and the pleasant trickling of clear water as he sat at an out of place bench, right next to a huge glowing flower. Skeletal hands clutched some kind of baked good in a pie tin, though he made no move to start eating it. He stared down at it for a solid five minutes, unmoving, before he broke the calm spell of quiet.

"I never wanted this," he muttered in a baritone. The crystals on the ceiling twinkled in reply. "I... I wish I could tell someone..."

He could not. He knew there was no way he could bring himself to lay this burden on anyone else-this grievous knowledge. His world was not what he thought it was. And now that he knew, his life would never be the same. He knew, and now there was no way of unlearning the information.

He laid the pie plate down on the bench and propped his forehead on both hands. "I just wasn't ready for the responsibility."

 _"I just wasn't ready for the responsibility. I just wasn't ready for the responsibility."_ The flower murmured the words again softly, forever repeating itself without knowing the weight behind the sounds.

* * *

 _"Another monster was the victim of a vicious hate crime late last night. Witnesses say that around 3:00am, this monster was attacked by a human man who stopped his vehicle and stepped out to land several blows on the monster. This happened near Stark Avenue and 3rd Street in Ebott County, just as the monster was exiting a convenience store and walking home to the apartment complex across the way. The identity of the monster will remain undisclosed until further investigation is underway, seeing as the monster in question was underage."_

A graphic appeared above and to the right of the woman news anchor's head—glitchy, rough video of a vaguely shaped human moving its arms at sharp angles next to another shadowy figure. The words "Monster Hate Crime Continues?" appeared in bold lettering as an overlay.

The face of the next newscaster held a well-placed grimace. _"How terrible. That poor kid."_ His tone was shaped to be something like sympathy. The female who was reporting before nodded in agreement. _"Indeed it is, Jim. We hope he recovers quickly and the assailant is caught by police, though because of the difference in monster and human rights, a case against the human may be tough to bring to court. In other news…"_

Holly turned her television off before the next segment could begin the corners of her mouth were turned down as if she'd just tasted something sour. Not only was the hate crime near where she lived, but the fact that one of her race had ruthlessly attacked what was apparently a child monster made her feel deep shame and sympathy. Plus, the fact that monsters were still struggling to obtain the same rights that humans did… ugh. Holly didn't even want to start going down that path of thought this morning. The sound of soft, pattering rain soothed her slightly, so she focused on that for a few minutes. It was a pale gray out, still bright, but not obnoxiously sunny.

She browsed through a few bookmarked websites, impatiently shaking her leg beneath a small desk as the loading screens crawled by. Cheap apartment wi-fi was the ultimate test of patience. She maximized the window for Skype one more time, leaving message for a particular user that had an extensive chat history with her:

12:37pm You: hey doof

12:37pm You: watcha up to, haven't seen u on in a while

12:43pm You: I started hunter x hunter finally, it's p good. Gon is adorable omg

There was a large gap in time between messages, in which Holly checked other sites and answered notes on her art page. Someone else trying to get free art, as usual. She rolled her eyes before popping back into Skype. There were no messages back from her sister. Holly sighed and typed in a new message.

1:25pm You: aw guess u busy

1:26pm You: we should do skype chat sometime, I miss u

1:26pm You: lava u sis

1:27pm You: let me know how move to apt goes, let me know if u need anything

Holly's mouth went taut. She ran through recent messages with her sister, just in case Michelle had mentioned if she'd be busy today, but there wasn't anything indicating that she would be.

"She's probably packing or something," she mumbled to herself.

Movement caught the corner of her eye and she glanced out of the droplet-covered window to see two people milling about in the parking lot. She didn't pay it any mind at first, though the colors of their clothing stuck in her mind's eye. _'Who even wears that bright a shade of yellow anymore? Maybe people who were stuck in the neon fad of the 80's?'_

But there was something familiar about those two colors. Blue and yellow...

Her neck cracked with the speed of which she turned to look out the window again. This time, she actually got out of her squashy office chair to get a better view.

Two monsters walked along the sidewalk, holding hands. Holly had heard of these two through rumors in the apartment complex—most in hushed, worried tones, as if telling her to watch out for them. At the moment she only felt excitement at the chance of meeting them.

Before her brain could scold her for being a complete imbecile, she banged open the window and shouted, "Hey, guys!"

The pair stopped and looked over, though it took the short yellow one _('Is she a dinosaur...?')_ took a moment more to find the source of Holly's voice. _'Oh, uh, crap. Now or never I guess,'_ Holly thought, now going red as they peered at her with bewilderment.

"Uhhh. Well, I haven't seen you around and I was wondering if you wanted to come up for a cup of coffee or something?" she asked, her voice sounding more and more strained with every word. The pair of monsters glanced at each other. The blue one shook their head, a bright red shock of hair flowing in the stormy wind. Holly's heart fell, but now the yellow one was tugging the blue monster's hand and leading towards the woman's apartment. "I'm 206!" Holly called happily. "Meet you at the door."

She unbolted the lock when an impatient knock battered the door. The woman guessed this was the blue monster. She swung the door open too see a tall, svelte blue fish-lady standing next to a short, yellow lizard. They both appeared female, though it was difficult to assume since they weren't human. Holly immediately noticed the blue monster's eye patch, then the white lab coat the yellow monster wore beneath a a clear rain poncho.

"Hi! Hey, sorry if that was, uhm, weird. I just, well I wanted to meet the neighbors I haven't spoken to yet. Come on in! I have coffee, tea, cocoa… or water or whatever." Holly realized she hadn't moved to allow them in and she did so with a nervous chuckle. "Sorry, sorry. I haven't had company in a while. Uh, here, you guys can sit at the table."

The short yellow monster sat hesitantly. "Um, h-hey, thanks for the invite. I'm, uh, Alphys. This is m-my girlfriend..."

"Undyne," the fish monster cut in. Holly introduced herself before sticking her hand out for a handshake, which Alphys took right away. Undyne frowned and didn't move to take the offered greeting, however.

Holly cleared her throat and clapped her hands together.

"Uhm, ah. S-so! Did you two want anything?" She gave them a strained smile.

"I'll have uh, hot cocoa? Please," Alphys requested. Undyne crossed her arms and didn't say anything in answer. "U-uh, Undyne likes tea…" Alphys answered for her girlfriend.

"Okay. I have chai, I'll make that for you if it's okay?" she asked the fish monster. Undyne shrugged noncommittally.

Holly busied herself in the humble apartment kitchen, putting a kettle on with enough water for the three of them.

"So, ah. You two have lived here for…?"

"Six months," Undyne answered brusquely.

"Y-yeah, we've been here aw-while now. Just been, uh, busy, you know. Moving in and f-finding jobs nearby," Alphys added.

"Mm, yeah… job hunting has been difficult the past decade or so. The U. S. economy's been a bit—lacking." The woman paused between words to reach a cup that was high up in the cabinet—one of the less-used, "fancy" ones for guests. Things were quiet again as she bustled about, letting Undyne's tea steep and mixing a packet of pre-made cocoa into Alphys's cup. Holly always had cocoa on hand. It was, she believed, a necessity. Not only did it warm her up on cold days, but cocoa just seemed sort of like a hug from the inside for the days she needed cheering up.

"Mmkay, here ya go Alphys. Undyne, yours is gonna be just another minute since it's steeping, but I got the half and half for Alphys's cocoa—in case you wanna cool it down." The woman sat down with a cup of leftover coffee she'd microwaved while making the other two drinks.

"Sorry if inviting you in all the sudden was weird," the woman started, warming her hands around her well-worn mug. "I just… I'd heard you guys moved in a while ago, but I never saw you."

"Tch." Undyne's face twisted like she'd just tasted bitter medicine. Holly blinked at her owlishly. Alphys ducked her head and poured a bit of the half and half into her drink, not meeting anyone's gaze.

"Oh, right, I should, uh." Holly got up and added honey and cream to Undyne's tea before handing to her. Undyne held it away from her body as if it would explode any moment.

"I-it's fine, we haven't really spoken to many huma—um, people, s-since we moved in. It's nice to have someone friendly around," Alphys piped up in answer to Holly's earlier comment.

Holly gave Alphys a warm look. "Honestly, I don't get a lot of visitors. And, well," she cast her eyes down. "I haven't met any monsters in person before you. I was a little curious," she admitted.

Apparently this was the exact wrong thing to say. Undyne slammed down her tea, splashing it onto the wooden table and leaned in to get right in Holly's face. Holly squeaked and shrank back as much as her chair would allow, her eyes wide.

"Curious, huh? Wanna know what the freaky _monsters_ are like up close? Wanted to study us and check us out like animals at a zoo?" Undyne hissed, her one visible eye narrowed. "Maybe you wanted a couple of monster friends so you look like the perfect vision of civil rights. Such a martyr, right? So sweet and nice and _fake_. Ugh, humans make me wanna barf." The fish monster leaned away. Holly released a breath she hadn't noticed she'd been holding.

"N-no…! I-I, I just, wanted to—" Holly stammered, but Alphys butted in.

" _Undyne!_ That's not fair! She was just being nice," she said, her voice a click higher than it had been a moment ago. Undyne's eye flicked to her before going back to glaring at Holly.

"I'm going back to the apartment. Come back whenever," Undyne told Alphys, but then softened her tone to add, "Text me so I know when you're walking across." She addressed Holly with more than a little hostility. "My girlfriend had better not have one scale out of place, human, or I will come back and put a spear through your gut."

She stalked out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her. Holly sat in stunned silence

"W-well, that was, um."

"I'm sorry," Alphys squeaked, her eyes glittering with sudden wetness. "She's not a bad monster, she's just… w-we've been through a lot up here." She took a sip of cocoa and fiddled at the hem of her coat, not quite meeting Holly's gaze.

Holly's expression softened. "I understand. It's okay. You guys don't have to be friends with me or anything. I just wanted to, I don't know. Be a good neighbor or... something. I'm sorry if it was rude to be curious." She hesitated before reaching out a hand to touch Alphys's claw. The monster tensed, but then gave Holly a watery smile. Holly couldn't help but find her adorable—Alphys had the nerdy look about her with the glasses and the front teeth that stuck out, but she had a warmth and kindness to her that extended to her face. It put Holly at ease, for some reason.

"I appreciate the gesture, honestly," Alphys sighed. "I'm just not sure Undyne's gonna warm up to a human so fast." She glanced at her phone. "She'll be upset if I stay here too long, so I'm gonna, uh, go. B-but thanks for the drinks." She stood up, moving to leave, but then paused. "Y-you... wanna swap numbers?"

Holly tilted her head curiously, but nodded and dug her phone out of her pocket. Alphys grabbed it and tapped the numbers in on her contacts page, then gave the phone back. "T-text me, um, whenever you f-feel like it," she said in a small voice. Holly nodded and Alphys tapped a message on her own phone, which Holly assumed was to Undyne as requested.

"Bye, Alphys... it was nice to meet you." Alphys gave a little wave and headed out.

As the door closed, the woman couldn't help but to feel even lonelier that she had before Alphys and Undyne had stepped inside the apartment.

* * *

Holly didn't see the two of them in person again for a long time, though she texted Alphys frequently. The short monster seemed much more confident when texting than when talking aloud, which Holly could relate to. It was much easier to say what you meant when you weren't at war with your own social anxiety. Holly learned that the two monsters had moved three times in the past three years, searching for jobs that were close enough together so they could live in the same place. They'd started dating officially shortly after they emerged from the Underground, and Undyne especially did not want to separate now that there was no need to do so. Alphys worked as a community college professor, but she was working on becoming a professor at a more prestigious college that was very open about accepting monster students and staff. Undyne worked at the baseball stadium about thirty minutes away as a security guard, often working late nights for concert events and the like year-round. Holly also learned that Alphys and Undyne adored anime and were always trying to find good new shows. Alphys had even asked if Holly knew about Crunchyroll, which made her laugh. Of course she did, Holly'd had a subscription for so long, she was hesitant to think about how much money they'd made off of her in total.

Things went back to normal; at least, they did for a little while. Holly would get up, get showered and dressed, go to work, come home, sit at her laptop for hours, and repeat the same routine every day. Occasionally, she had to go out to get groceries and the like, but otherwise she really didn't find the energy to go out for the hell of it. She started chatting with Alphys via text on the regular, though it didn't hold a candle to having friends she could visit in person. Michelle hadn't messaged much lately either. As Holly suspected, her sister had been incredibly busy, getting paperwork together, packing, and getting all the last-minute details in place before she set foot into her rental home.

It was another soporific day at work when Holly dropped into a free seat in the lounge room, cracking open a can of soda for the perk of caffeine. She pulled her phone from the pocket of uncomfortable work pants, unsurprised to see another text from Alphys.

12:01PM Alphys: hey are you free tonight?

Holly checked the time in the top corner of her phone: 1:49PM. So Alphys sent that message awhile ago, probably knowing Holly would get it later. Holly wiped condensation from her palm before texting back.

1:50PM You: yeah, I get off work at about 5. Why what's up?

Alphys didn't text back for a minute or two, so Holly took a long gulp of her soda. The phone buzzed and lit up quicker than she expected, though.

1:52PM Alphys: Undyne's going to a friend's tonight, so maybe we can hang out at your place? ^ . ^;;

1:53PM Alphys: We can watch a show maybe?

Holly blinked in surprise at the words on the screen before grinning and sending a text back right away.

1:53PM You: Ooh yeah that sounds like fun! Maybe the show you like so I can see why you talk about it so much :P

1:54PM Alphys: Haha, yeah. I talk about it that much? /

Holly cringed a bit at the response. Alphys was notoriously self-conscious, so she began to text back a reply that would offset the teasing a little.

1:54PM You: Lol yeah you do, but it's ok, I probably talk your ear off about all my fandoms

1:54PM You: So yeah around 6 is good, I'll make dinner too so don't eat anything

1:55PM Alphys: Aww you don't have to do that

1:55PM Alphys: I've got stuff here

1:56PM You: Nah it's cool, I haven't cooked in a while and I kinda like to once in a while

1:56PM You: Plus I like entertaining company :P

1:57PM Alphys: lol ok then, I won't fill up before I come over

1:57PM Alphys: I'll text you before I head over

1:57PM You: Sounds good, seeya tonight, gonna eat lunch so ttyl

1:58PM Alphys: kk cya! ^ . ~

Holly closed out of the conversation and ate her pre-packed sandwich, humming to herself slightly after the conversation with Alphys.

The rest of the workday was uneventful, save for an overactive child screaming and pushing all the clothes off a nearby display table. Holly had given the uncaring mother a very strained smile when she refrained from moving to help clean up the mess her kid had caused. Holly found it very difficult not to breathe an obnoxious sigh of relief when the overhead speakers announced that the store would be closing within thirty minutes. She took the last few customers in line, telling new customers trying to hop in that she was only taking whoever was already available. She managed to keep the retail smile plastered on her face, despite the bitching and moaning from the people she'd turned away.

Finally, she closed up the register and finished cleaning out the fitting rooms before clocking out, grabbing her purse, and hitting the road. Her feet throbbed in her overworn "nice" work shoes, but at that point she was just relieved to be going home.

Ten minutes later she threw open her apartment door and flopped unceremoniously onto her crappy couch. She didn't resist the urge to groan indulgently into the cushions. Remembering what she'd promised Alphys, she wiggled around to reach her front pocket and pulled out her phone. 5:23PM. Enough time to change clothes, wash her face makeup off, put her hair up, and start on dinner. But first, a few more seconds groaning into the couch cushions.

 _'Okay, get up now. There's a fancy coffee maker thing in the kitchen, remember? C'mon Holly, you've got guests coming over.'_ She often had to bribe herself with rewards. Sometimes it worked. Moreso when she had an obligation. She rolled off the couch and got to her feet, stuffing on a pair of slippers before walking on the cold tile in the kitchen. She grabbed a dirty mug from the sink that appeared well-used and washed it out quickly. It was a Disney-themed coffee mug that was taller than normal mugs; she'd gotten it from Michelle two Christmases ago. Now it was pretty much the only cup she used for drinks.

The Keurig on the counter whirred to life after she pressed the correct button. It was one of the first things she'd bought for herself since coffee was a necessary resource for any retail employee. She went to her room and changed quickly before coming back to enjoy her coffee and peruse the fridge for ingredients. She knew there was fresh chicken she'd just bought on sale...

After a bit of searching, she ended up with a box of penne and a jar of pre-made marinara sauce. Chicken marinara-quick and simple. She got out the pans necessary and fell into the ritual of home cooking, humming to herself as the fresh chicken breasts sizzled merrily.

Dinner was nearly done a short while later when Holly's phone buzzed. _'Ack, six already?'_ She texted back, giving Alphys the go-ahead to come over. Holly had gone the extra mile to put out two servings on plates when the knock came at the door. She flounced over and opened it, giving the short monster a grin.

"Perfect timing! I literally just finished dinner. Chicken marinara," she told Alphys.

"Oh gosh, I can smell it from here," she commented. Her stomach growled and Holly laughed.

"Okay, okay, come in. I won't torture you anymore."

The two of them scarfed down dinner at the table and chatted, the meeting much more relaxed than the first. Holly was glad she'd kept texting Alphys, since it seemed to help her feel more comfortable making conversation in person.

"So I brought over _Mew Mew Kissy Cutie!_ " Alphys reached into a messenger bag she'd plopped near her chair and pulled out a DVD case with a faded cover.

"Awesome! Let me go put these plates in the dishwasher and we'll put it in."

She and Alphys watched several hours of the show, since the DVD had a "marathon mode" that played one episode after another while skipping the intro and credits. Holly made the occasional comment here or there, comparing the anime to _Sailor Moon_ and _Tokyo Mew Mew_ , and Alphys seemed excited to learn about new anime. It was so easy to fall into deep conversation of headcanons and theories with her that Holly found herself wondering if she'd ever clicked with anyone as quickly as she had with Alphys. Being total nerds probably had something to do with it.

Alphys checked the time on her phone and made a noise of surprise. "Oh g-gosh. It's been four hours, haha. I should probably head home," she lamented. Holly laughed and patted her shoulder.

"Well, you know where I live. This was fun, you should come over again sometime!"

"Y-yeah!" Alphys agreed, her cheeks darkening to deep orange. "I'll just leave the DVD here since we didn't finish. I'm gonna text Undyne and let her know I'm coming back home."

Holly's smile fell. "...Does she make you text her for everything?" she asked before she could think to word the question more tactfully.

"Oh, n-no! It's just, well..." Alphys's eyes darted to the ground. "There are a few human who... d-don't really seem very nice," she explained. "Undyne just worries and wants to know when I'm walking by myself."

Holly felt guilty for asking. Of course Undyne would worry; humans were known to sometimes attack monsters unprovoked. The thought was sobering. "Well, now you make me want to make you text me, too, now," Holly laughed uneasily. The edges of Alphys's mouth tugged upwards.

"Yeah... D-don't worry, I'm not very tough, b-but Undyne was Captain of the Royal Guard, back in the Underground."

"Whoa... well I guess you're set, then! Stay safe, Alphys. See you again soon," Holly told her as she headed out the door. Alphys blushed.

"Definitely!"


	2. First Dance

The next time Alphys came over for anime, Undyne came with her.

Holly suspected this was at Alphys's request, because as soon as the huge monster ducked through the doorway, she pinned Holly with a grumpy scowl. Holly, however, was intimidated only for a moment, because she suddenly remembered that Undyne had not seen _Hunter X Hunter_ , and that needed to be fixed _immediately_.

"Undyne! I wasn't expecting you to come," Holly told her warmly. Undyne pursed her lips and glanced away. "Alphys and I were gonna watch one of her anime, but… well, there's this action anime I think would be perfect for you. Plus, there are some really cute moments that I think she'll like too." Undyne's… ears? Fins? Whatever they were, they perked slightly, giving away the fact that she seemed interested. Holly grinned.

Alphys, having overheard while dropping off her messenger bag, piped up, "Hey, th-that sounds nice! Undyne likes c-cute stuff too, but she likes action even m-more."

Undyne looked over at her girlfriend with a look of betrayal and grumpiness. "Yeah, shonen anime sounds good." She raised an eyebrow at Holly's surprised look. "What, you don't think I know what _shonen_ is? Pff, please. Alphys taught me all I need to know about anime." She gave Alphys a grin, which was the first genuine smile Holly had seen on her face. It was… very pointy, but infectious. Holly couldn't help but to feel warmed by the expression.

Feeling as though she was finally getting somewhere, Holly bounced in place. "Awesome! I'll go get it and we'll watch together. It's _sooo_ good, oh my gosh you are going to love it! My sister told me to watch it and I'm like, halfway through, but that's okay because now I can see how the characters have developed while I watch it again and…"

As she went on, Undyne glanced at Alphys with a puzzled expression, at which the yellow monster just shrugged. Holly babbled a little more as Alphys plopped on the lumpy couch comfortably. Undyne hesitated, watching how relaxed Alphys acted around Holly and frowning. She eventually picked the spot between Alphys and the arm of the couch and sat down, shoulders unusually straight. Alphys looked up at her girlfriend and gave a reassuring smile before clasping her hand between her smaller claws. Undyne gave her girlfriend one of her rare soft smiles, muscles relaxing slightly.

"Okay, guys! Do you want anything before we start? Coffee, tea, anything?"

"Oh, I'll get myself some water later, probably. B-but I'm good for now," Alphys told Holly. Undyne stared at the yellow monster, wide-eyed and both eyebrows raised high enough to be hidden by her long hair.

"…Undyne? Do you want anything?" Holly asked, this time more timidly.

"Uh! Oh, uh. Nah, I'm good," Undyne muttered, taking her gaze off of Alphys to stare pensively at the coffee table.

"Okay, cool, so we can just start right off." Holly grabbed the DVD remote and plopped herself right next to Alphys, who didn't react to the close proximity. Undyne's sharp eye did not miss this.

Alphys automatically wormed her way under Undyne's arm to cuddle as they usually did when _they_ watched TV together. Holly saw them snuggled up and couldn't stop the big, happy smile that came to her face. Before either noticed her watching them, she played the first episode of the show.

* * *

Undyne was a talker, apparently. During the first episode, she was fairly quiet, but once she began getting into the characters and the story, she got more vocal, making comments about what she would have done in that situation or why a character acted a certain way. Holly had to stifle a few comments, because they would have spoiled the show, but she was surprised at how passionate Undyne got about it. She dissected the characters, their motivations, the plot and how things came to be, even the fighting styles. She even got very close to theorizing correctly about a fighting mechanic that came into play much further along in the show, at which Holly's eyes went big. She literally had to tuck her lip in to bite it before she said anything, which Undyne caught right away.

"Ha! You can't hide anything from _me_ , human. That's what happens, isn't it?"

Alphys laughed and patted her girlfriend's shoulder. "Undyne! Don't guess _everything_ and spoil it for us before we get to it!"

The blue monster blinked, gave a sheepish grin, and looked away. "Right, sorry! This show is pretty…" she glanced at Holly, expression souring. "…I guess it's not _complete_ garbage."

Holly tried her best not to laugh, but holding it back just made her snort loudly. Undyne's whole face scrunched in annoyance. Holly jumped up before she could yell about it and dashed into the kitchen.

"I'm getting kinda hungry so I'm gonna make something for dinner!" she announced in a rush. Alphys hopped up, too, surprising Undyne.

"W-wait, I brought… well, it's not much but it's what was in my pantry," she said, and dug into her messenger bag. She produced three packets of instant ramen, all shrimp flavor.

Holly's gaze fell on the ramen and she giggled. "Oh, Alphys, you can't live on those _forever_ , y'know," she admonished. Alphys blushed and shrugged.

"Hey! Those are delicious. She can have as many as she wants," Undyne insisted, coming to her girlfriend's rescue from the living room. Holly held her palms up.

"Okay, okay. Well… hmm. I _think_ I can work with this. But I'm gonna kick this up a notch and make something actually substantial," Holly said, now foraging in her refrigerator for items that could go with the ramen noodles. She pulled out a carton of eggs and green onion, as well as a couple of sauces.

"Can I see those?" she asked Alphys. Holly took them and filled a pot with water to boil, letting it heat up while chopping up the green onion.

"What are you doing?" Undyne asked, walking into the kitchen and watching Holly work. Holly caught Undyne's hands twitch as if she wanted to grab a kitchen utensil, but she restrained herself.

"Making an actual meal out of an instant one," Holly answered. She stooped and grabbed a small frying pan and a colander. "I'm gonna boil a few eggs and flavor the ramen with those—" she pointed to the chopped onions—"And some of the sauce I pulled out. It's not much, but it'll probably have less salt the way I make it, and it'll come with actual protein."

"Holly likes to cook," Alphys told Undyne with a hint of pride coloring her voice. At the hurt look Undyne gave, the short monster backpedaled. "B-but! It's, uh, n-not like _yours_ , Undyne! She just spices up pre-made s-stuff, you know, not like how y-you m-m-make things from scratch! Eh heh…"

Holly raised an eyebrow and watched them out of the corner of her eye. "Yeah, I just kinda learned how to do this stuff living on my own… Meals from scratch gets expensive, but all the cheap stuff needs a little boost. Humans need a balanced diet or they get unhealthy," Holly explained. The wrinkled in Undyne's brow smoothed.

"Oh yeah, I forgot how _wimpy_ you humans are," Undyne jabbed, her toothy smile reforming. It was definitely not a touchy-feely expression, but better than actual anger, at least.

The two monsters stayed back and watched as Holly sliced up the eggs and strained the noodles, putting only two packets of seasoning in ("But that's not how you make them?" Alphys had insisted). Holly made up three bowls with the egg slices laid out on top, feeling pride in how nice it all looked.

"Here ya go, guys," she gave the two monsters their bowls at the table, giving Alphys a set of chopsticks from leftover Chinese food Holly had had a while back. The little monster always insisted on using them, and Holly had a suspicion it was because it made her feel cooler.

They mostly ate in silence, with Alphys and Holly chatting about _Hunter X Hunter_ (Holly dropped a few hints here and there but didn't give anything away about future episodes), and Undyne watching the two with pursed lips from time to time. Holly sometimes caught a flash of something akin to pride when Undyne's eye fell on Alphys. The two of them cared about each other very much, obviously. Holly couldn't help the pang of envy that settled in her gut when the two touched each other or exchanged private glances.

Holly could see exactly why the two fell for each other. Both were passionate about life in their own, unique ways, and about different things, but in a way that fell into place with one another. And while Alphys had confessed several times that she felt that Undyne was out of her league, and that she was so lucky to have her, Holly could see the same look of admiration in Undyne's face whenever she looked at Alphys. Holly wished someone would think that highly of _her_ …

The noodles were eaten fairly quickly, Undyne having made it into a silent competition of who would finish first. Holly picked up the dishes and headed to put them in the dishwasher, while Alphys made her way to the couch.

"Hey, human." Undyne had followed her into the kitchen. Holly paused, glancing up in surprise—Alphys was in the living room, so there wasn't any reason for Undyne to be in here, alone with Holly…

"Hey, Undyne." Silence fell over them. Holly straightened up and gave the monster her full attention. "Is there… did you need anything?" she asked timidly. Undyne reached up to rub the back of her scaly neck.

"Yeah, I… I just wanted to say thanks. You know, for being friends with Alphys."

Holly blinked. "Uh… sure, Undyne. I mean, I didn't exactly…" Oh, _how_ to word this. "I like Alphys because she's nice, and, well. We're both pretty big nerds, so. I hang out with her because I like her company, is all," Holly explained. Undyne gave her a scrutinizing look before chuckling dryly.

"Yeah, I know. You didn't befriend her for me. But thanks anyway," Undyne said, cutting right to the point. Holly winced at her bluntness. Seemed Undyne was more shrewd than she let on… "Listen, I know I was out of line when you invited us over a while back." Her mouth twisted as if she hated the taste of the words coming out of it. "But I want you to do me a favor and dance with me."

 _What._ Holly frowned, head tilting. "Uhhhh… what? _D-dance_ with you?" She wasn't sure she'd heard correctly, but Undyne was nodding and holding out a webbed hand.

"Yeah, yeah, it's not a human thing. Just do it, wimp," Undyne insisted, staring Holly down. The woman looked down at the extended hand (it had to be twice as big as her own) and back up into Undyne's hard gaze.

"Um. I… guess? I'm not very goo— _whoa!_ " Before Holly could finish the thought, Undyne had yanked Holly into the space between the living room and the kitchen, where Alphys looked up curiously from her phone.

"Alphys! Put on the song!" Undyne demanded, a manic grin sliding up her features and lighting up her visible eye. Holly was reminded of a cat's slit pupils in the sunlight.

The shorter monster's mouth dropped open and she stared for a second before leaping up as if burned. "Okay! Y-yeah, the song, hang on—"

Alphys pulled out a battered jewel case that had several cracks in it. It contained a CD that was mostly blank, except for messy letters written on it in Sharpie. Already knowledgeable about Holly's DVD player, she popped it in and switched the mode over to CD so the correct sounds would play through the speakers.

"All right, human, try to keep up with me," Undyne challenged, eye gleaming dangerously. Holly glanced over at Alphys, whose claws were clasped together near her face. She gave Holly an encouraging grin.

"Okay," she sighed. Undyne's pointed grin grew wider. She rolled her muscular shoulders, tilted her head to crack her neck, and shook out all of her limbs. Holly was reminded just how _huge_ Undyne was. She licked her lips nervously. She followed Undyne's suit, though, and shook her body out a bit. It had been a long time since she'd attempted dancing—or anything physically taxing, really. The most she did was walk up and down stairs when it was required at her job.

The music started, surprisingly loud. Holly glanced at Alphys who shrugged, then gestured at Undyne earnestly as if telling Holly to pay attention.

A beat began thumping and Undyne _moved_. Holly wasn't sure what kind of dance this was, but she was reminded of those old kung-fu movies, except to a rhythm. Undyne's movements were decisive, but fluid and graceful. Holly attempted to mimic her, but her feet stuttered awkwardly. She stumbled and landed on one knee, palms splayed on the ground from catching herself. Holly's cheeks burned. She felt ridiculous, but Undyne was watching, waiting. Holly clenched her jaw and pushed off the ground to stand again.

Determined, Holly redoubled her efforts, concentrating on how Undyne slid from one foot to the next, seeming to lead with her hips or shoulders, every move starting from the center of her lithe body. She wasn't as tall, or long-limbed, or graceful, but Holly could at least _attempt_ some of the moves Undyne performed. Hip twist, knee, bend, place a foot. Arched spine, swing back, shoulder back, _turn_.

She could _do_ this. Holly was getting the hang of it when the beat of the song pumped up. Undyne sucked in a breath, and then she was a blur of limbs and movement. Holly imagined Undyne as her opponent, unconsciously curling her lips into a snarl. This was a challenge, and Holly was not going to back down. Undyne bared her teeth in response.

The monster kicked high above her own head, then slid around to get behind Holly and grab her waist. With surprising deftness, she led Holly's movements. The human woman allowed her body to be moved to the beat, at once point even closing her eyes. She dipped her shoulder with Undyne, sidestepped with Undyne, fell back into the crook of Undyne's elbow, only to spring up and do a half-turn. The music thrummed somewhere inside of Holly's chest and she forgot the awkwardness of dancing with some monster she barely knew, she forgot her shame and the fact that her body was groaning in protest.

Now she was adding her own steps, hips swaying, eyes locked with Undyne and then away again. She threw her arms out and tilted to keep balance as she stepped from the ball of her foot to the other in a criss-crossing pattern, ducking and weaving around Undyne. She still was hardly what anyone would call a professional dancer, but Holly was moving boldly now, just as decisive as Undyne and almost as energetic. Holly began to think of herself as Undyne's equal, when something in her head clicked.

This was _Undyne_. This dance showed how competitive Undyne was, how passionate, how _strong_ she was. Holly laughed breathlessly.

Then her chest began to glow. There was a thrumming deep within her that was alien, and yet…

Undyne's face lit up both literally and figuratively as her chest glowed a strange teal-green color, the light pulsing like a heartbeat. Holly saw a bright shape that resembled a cartoon heart emerge from her chest. The light was so bright, it hurt her eyes, but she did not look away.

Another perfectly shaped "heart" emerged from deep within the core of Holly's body, and she understood without question that she was suddenly bare and vulnerable. It was a brilliant ultraviolet color, and something about it seemed warm, intimate, and very _familiar_ …

She stopped dancing and the lights faded away. Undyne followed suit a moment later, the heart pulsing with light over her chest and settling back somewhere in her ribcage. She was smiling.

"That was…" Holly began, not sure of the words to use.

"That was amazing!" Alphys's voice carried over to the two dancers. The spell broke and Holly was aware of the space outside of the dance now—Alphys had turned down the music and rushed over, hopping up and down. "Oh Undyne! Did you see? I _told_ you she was—"

"Wait, wait! What… what _was_ that?" Holly asked, leaning on the back of the couch and catching her breath. Alphys grabbed Holly's face and squealed, smooshing the human's soft cheeks between her claws.

"It was our dance! Monsters d-dance to see if we are compatible with one another, two souls can communicate more clearly through emotion, you see, s-so when you and Undyne resonated together—"

"It _means_ ," Undyne interrupted, putting a webbed hand on Alphys's shoulder. "That me and you will get along just fine." Holly frowned and Undyne laughed before wrapping an arm around her. Holly noted how warm and smooth her scales were with curiosity. " _Fuhuhuhu_ , it's kinda hard to explain, human. Basically, monsters dance with each other to get to know each other better, or to fight. When you dance for the former reason, it's sorta like a test. If your souls like each other, they glow, like ours did. If they're incompatible, nothing happens. The two monsters just weren't meant to be involved with each other," she explained.

"Huh," Holly muttered, brow furrowed. "So… me and you… does that make us friends now?"

Undyne chuckled. "Well, not yet. But it means we can be. See?" She ruffled Holly's hair with a smile.

Holly was flabbergasted. Undyne was acting completely differently than from before they danced—instead paranoia and hostility, the monster displayed _affection_. It was almost too much to take in. "I, uh… d-do all monsters do this?" she asked. Alphys pushed up her glasses, calmed but still smiling slightly.

"Yeah, we do. All of us have d-different dances we're born with. Undyne does capoeira, and I do mostly K-pop style," Alphys told her.

"Wait, you guys are _born_ knowing how to dance? _Specific_ dances?" Holly rubbed her temples. "That's… well that's really cool, actually." She looked up at Undyne. "So your dance is kinda like fighting, but not. That suits you. But," Holly looked back at Alphys. "Do… do humans have dances, too?"

"Yeah! Frisk's is ballet. Uh, the kid who came with us from Underground," Undyne said. "Humans don't have magic anymore. You guys aren't made of it like we are, but once upon a time, you knew how to use it. The magic, and being around it, is what wakes up your dance. Since monsters have it inside 'em, we're just born with our dances."

"So… what's mine, then?" Holly asked, frowning. "I was just trying to dance with you, but I highly doubt my dance is capoeira. It just… doesn't seem to fit."

"Well…" Alphys tapped her chin with a claw. "Frisk was around a l-lot of magic all at once, because the Underground was full of magical residue from all the monsters living everywhere. So with you, you'd probably just have to hang around a lot of monsters." She tucked her arms around her. "B-but I dunno if that means you'd have to be around a bunch at once, or if a little magic all the time would wake up your dance…"

"Eh, you can worry about that later. Besides, now that you're cool with _me_ ," Undyne tilted her head back and put a palm on her chest. "You're sure to meet Papyrus. And he's friends with _everyone_."

"Papyrus?" Holly asked. Undyne's shoulders shook with laughter.

" _Fuhuhuhu!_ Yeah, he's a skeleton monster. Him and his brother live next to where Asgore and the others do. Pap gets along with _everyone_ , so you don't need to worry," Undyne explained.

 _Skeleton_ monster? Holly's mind immediately came up with the Claymation skeletons with shields and swords from the old Sinbad movie and she had to stifle a giggle. Living skeletons! Sometimes, RPGs and other games were spot-on when making up fantasy monsters.

Alphys yawned widely, catching Undyne's attention. She pulled her phone from her pocket and pursed her lips. "Ehh, it's getting' kinda late. Alph has to get up early in the morning and I wanna walk her home. But, uh." Her cheeks darkened. Wow, Undyne _blushed?_ Holly wasn't sure if she could get used to this softer side of the monster. "Maybe I could come over again sometime? That anime was pretty cool and I don't wanna quit watching when I've gotten so into it already," she finished quickly. Alphys grinned from behind Undyne at Holly.

"Yeah, of course you can, Undyne! I'd really like that," Holly agreed. Undyne gave one of her huge, pointy smiles.

"All right! Seeya next time, then. C'mon shorty, let's hit the sack," Undyne said, helping grab Alphys's things and heading for the door.

"Thanks for dinner, and… e-everything else," Alphys added, waving as they finally headed out.


	3. Training With a Skeleton

Holly stared up at her ceiling fan, her shoulder blades pressing comfortably into the plush mattress. Her eyes mindlessly tried to catch the individual blades and follow them, but otherwise she was motionless.

The Christmas season was coming up soon. Work had been nearly unbearable; Holly was certain that if she hadn't befriended Alphys and Undyne, she would have had a breakdown by now over rude customers and demanding managers. But she _had_ made friends with them—real, actual friends. It felt strange, having the knowledge that people she cared about lived very close by. It was like when she was young and the neighbor kid would be available any time to play or spend the night. She could rely on someone being there when she needed them.

Holly rolled onto her belly, tucking her chin into a pillow. _Could_ she rely on them? Could she really have actual friends that cared about her for more than just watching fun anime and laughing over dinner? She frowned into the fabric. Once upon a time, she'd had friends. A group of them who laughed and pretended to care, but then averted their eyes and ignored her when suddenly she was the girl with a tragic back story. To them, she was uncomfortable to be friends with, and Holly had started noticing when they quit inviting her everywhere. She started noticing when she was being left out of conversations. It wasn't intentionally malicious; they were good people, and of course they hadn't meant to make her feel isolated. But there was a day when Holly realized that she was constantly craving their company, to the point of becoming excited like a puppy when they gave her a scrap of affection. Begging for attention.

…Thinking about it again was probably not a good idea. She had an inner debate about getting up and finally did, meandering over to her laptop. A conversation with Alphys was on the screen, the window blinking.

 _Alphys: hey you said you have have crunchyroll right?_

 _Alphys: me and undyne want to watch more hunter x hunter but you don't have all of it on your dvds, and we looked it up on our netflix and it doesn't go up to the newest episode_

The side of Holly's mouth curved up into a small smile.

 _Holly: yeah I've got crunchyroll. You guys have Netflix? I have Hulu and I think there's a few shows that only go up on there_

 _Alphys: oh good, now me and undyne have to figure out what else we wanna watch ^ _ ^_

 _Holly: oh that reminds me, do you know about ? it's a site where you can track what shows you've watched and what you plan on watching and there's reviews on other shows and stuff. It's pretty handy_

 _Alphys: yeah I have an account already :P you? I can follow you and we'll figure out what we've already seen and stuff_

 _Holly: yeah sweet, let's nerd out efficiently lol. I don't remember my username, I haven't used it in a while_

 _Holly: but I can try to find it again and reset the password, just remind me to give you my username_

 _Alphys: HEY ONLY I CAN CALL ALPHYS A NERD lol hey loser what up_

Holly snorted, an easy grin coming to her face.

 _Holly: heya undyne lol, me and alph were talking about myanimelist_

 _Alphys: yeah, I share my account with alphys on there. We watch everything together so no point in making one just for me_

 _Holly: haha aw you guys are super cute :P_

 _Alphys: we are NOT!_

 _Alphys: well, okay alphys is_

 _Holly: lmao! guys wanna come over tonight?_

 _Alphys: yeah sounds awesome! Let me tell alph and we'll be over_

The grin nearly split Holly's face in half at this point, her earlier thoughts completely forgotten. The pair of monsters were over within twenty minutes, and Holly's apartment felt much less empty. Undyne was raucous as usual, comfortable enough with Holly that she would actually jump up and stand on the couch cushions when feeling particularly passionate about certain parts of the show they watched.

That night, after a particularly amazing episode of _Hunter X Hunter_ that left the three of them pumped up, Alphys excitedly asked Holly to dance with her.

"I j-just… well, _Undyne_ got to dance with you, and I wanted t-to… dance with you, too," Alphys stammered, cheeks puffed out in a pout.

"Wow, yeah Alph! You do… uh, what was your dance?" Holly laughed.

"Alphie here does K-pop, sometimes J-pop," Undyne piped up, giving her pointy grin. Holly pursed her lips.

"How do you guys know what the dances are called? I mean, I guess you would have researched it on the surface…?" she asked, curious.

"Oh, w-well yeah, there is that. But we knew a lot of the names of the dances before we came up here, too," Alphys said. Holly squinted. "A lot of trash from the surface got dumped into the Underground. I think we were part of a landfill? I never looked into that. But, yeah, from all the info we gathered with humans' trash… we figured out what some of our dances were. Some of them we've known a long time, like, um, waltz and stuff."

"I didn't know what mine was, or if it was even a dance," Undyne added, shrugging. "I just thought I liked fighting so much that I turned it into my style. Turns out it's a thing."

"Huh," Holly mused. "I didn't know what Capoeira even was until you guys mentioned it. I looked it up though—it's kinda interesting. Though, Undyne, your style is a little bit… different?" Holly remembered seeing the dancers she'd looked up on YouTube performing Undyne's signature dance. Hers was very similar, with the circular spinning motions and a focus on elegant fighting, but she'd also moved in a way that reminded Holly strongly of hip-hop dancers from old 80's movies.

"W-well, our dances are usually individual and unique. Undyne mixes her dance up with others sometimes, and it's so c-cool!" She blushed at the last comment, but then scrunched her nose up when Undyne kissed it.

" _Yours_ is super cool, too, cutie," Undyne chuckled, and Alphys's face was suddenly a bright orangey-red. Holly put her hand over her mouth to keep from giggling. "C'mon, I'll put your favorite song on to dance to and you can show Holly your stuff!" Undyne shouted.

They didn't have a CD of Alphys's song, but Undyne typed it into the search bar on YouTube and turned the laptop speakers up. The sound wasn't great, but Holly's laptop was of decent quality so it was at least clear.

Alphys's dance was much less aggressive, and far more suited for cooperation than competition. It reminded Holly a bit of choreographed line dancing, which a focus on moving the hands around and doing coordinated, easy moves. Holly made a lot of mistakes at first, but Alphys would repeat the moves again and again, allowing Holly to eventually learn them and start moving to the beat. Their souls resonated much more quickly than when Undyne had danced with Holly, but Holly figured it was because she and Alphys were already friendly with one another. Alphys's was a soft, buttery yellow, throwing light like sunshine across the room. Holly's soul appeared again, in a shade of bright violet. It sort of reminded her of a flashlight shining behind the petals of an orchid.

They stopped, giddy and laughing. Holly felt happier than she had in a long, long time, and she took the moment to stop and just look at her two friends with affection. She was positive it was because of the dancing. At the moment, however, she didn't care all that much _where_ it was coming from. Such a strong feeling came over her, caring and overjoyed and energetic and impulsive, and Holly leapt forward to put her arms around them.

"I… I'm so glad I met you two," she said sincerely.

"H-Holly…"

"Aw, Holl."

The two monsters returned the embrace and Holly felt hot tears slip down her cheeks. Undyne pushed back to look at Holly's face.

"We… we're glad we met ya, too," the tall monster admitted, gaze shifting.

"Y-yeah, you're such a nice person, and…" Alphys fiddled with her claws. "I think both of us have been a lot happier since we started h-hanging out. It's nice," she finished. Her cheeks were flushed with happiness.

Holly sniffled a few times before backing away and wiping her face. "Heh, I'm sorry, I just… I _missed_ this," she apologized, waving her hands in their general direction. "I haven't had friends other than people I talk to sometimes online in, well. It's been a few years. And my sister is so far away now, I don't see her much…" She trailed off, eyes averted. "We talk, but, it's—"

"H-hey, it's okay! You don't have to explain," Alphys interrupted, grabbing Holly's hand with both her claws. "We—I mean, I-I—totally understand what it's like. When you're… alone." Her brows furrowed the tiniest amount and she glanced away.

"You don't gotta worry about it anymore, loser," Undyne snorted. She tapped her chin, suddenly looking thoughtful. "Hmm… remember that guy I told you about before? Papyrus?"

Holly nodded, rubbing her eyes to rid herself of the leftover tears.

"Well, I was gonna go train with him tomorrow. Eh, I guess 'spar' would be a better word for it, since he's not really training for anything anymore. Now it's just a tradition," Undyne said. "I mean, if you're friends with us, you're gonna meet everyone eventually anyway. Plus, Frisk'll be happy that there's another human around."

Holly's interest peaked at the mention of Frisk. They'd talked about the kid who saved monsterkind before, but Holly hadn't gotten the chance to meet them. Holly remembered seeing their face on the news—the hero of monsters. Frisk had claimed in an interview that they were the "ambassador of monsters and humans", which gathered a few laughs from the reporters. A ten-year-old ambassador was quite silly, but it seemed that most monsters weren't very good at judging the ages of humans and hadn't known Frisk was far too young for such a task.

"Frisk? That's the kid who saved you guys, right?" Holly asked, still incredulous that such a young child could have done such a momentous thing. Undyne gave one of her proud smiles.

"Yup! No idea how they did it, especially with us tryin' to kick their butt the whole time. Toriel had a heck of a time getting to keep Frisk in her house as their mom. Humans have a lot of paperwork and stuff for that. Though if a kid doesn''t have any parents, it makes sense that someone like Tori would be a good replacement."

Holly raised both eyebrows at Undyne's casual mention of trying to attack a small child. "Wait, you guys fought with Frisk?" she asked. Undyne had the good sense to look abashed.

"Heh, yeah. Monsters have kind of a bad history with humans. But, uh, it ended up okay!" she insisted, her webbed hand rubbing at the back of her neck. Holly's eyebrows drew together, recognizing the lie. Undyne wasn't very good at hiding her emotions, but Holly didn't want to push her for answers. At least… not right now.

"I guess so," Holly relented, still wondering how the hell a ten-year-old survived a bunch of monsters like Undyne going after her. The moment was interrupted Undyne's phone began ringing a peppy tune.

"Oh, speak of the devil, it's Paps," she announced, her voice pleased and resigned at the same time. She hit the 'answer' button. "Hey Papyrus."

A loud voice on the other side, high-pitched but male, answered. Holly could hear most of what he said—he sounded like a very boisterous person. They chatted a few minutes about tomorrow's training day, Undyne rubbing her forehead at one point. "Paps, no, we're not gonna get up at three in the morning for training. Besides, I have a friend who wants to come over, maybe?" The last word sounded like a question, and Holly saw that Undyne was giving her a look. Realizing it was directed at her because she'd never answered, Holly nodded with a grin. "Yeah, friend is definitely coming over. Haha, yeah, you'll like her, she's—no, she's not related to Frisk. Not all humans are related, Papyrus," Undyne sighed. Holly had to stifle a giggle. "How about ten? Yeah, I know, it's sorta late for you but—yeah, okay, I'll ask her. I'll text you and let you know. Yeah, you too, Paps. Tell Sans I said hey. Mmkay, bye!"

"Sans? Who's Sans?" Holly asked nosily before she could stop herself. Alphys, who had flopped back on the couch, answered.

"Oh, that's Papyrus's older brother. He's not q-quite as, uh… outgoing," she said.

"Yeah. You heard, right? We're gonna meet up over there at ten, okay? Sorry if that's a little early, Paps is, uh… he doesn't sleep much," Undyne grumbled, looking exasperated.

"That's fine. I have to go to work earlier than that most days anyway," Holly said, waving Undyne's apology away. "Are we going in your car?"

Undyne nodded. "Yeah, 'cause you don't know where their house is anyway. Hey Alph, you comin' with?"

Alphys made a displeased sound. "Eh, no… I have papers to grade," she sighed. "I would do it at Papyrus's place, but…"

"Yeah, he's a little loud. Plus, Sans would probably start talking about geek crap with you again."

Holly was making a few mental notes of the skeleton brothers in her head as she gleaned information from Alphys and Undyne, so she had an idea of what to expect. Papyrus was loud and energetic, Sans was chill and probably book-smart, like Alphys. Sans was also the older brother, which already made Holly interested in getting to know him. Being the eldest sibling was an experience that wasn't understood very well except by those who were also big brothers or sisters. She wondered if he had a protective streak when it came to Papyrus, like she did with Michelle. Holly sighed, suddenly thinking of her younger sister. Maybe she'd text her tonight later.

"Oh yeah, Paps wanted me to ask if you like spaghetti, but, uh… you really don't wanna eat his cooking," Undyne laughed. "So you should probably eat something before you get there. Trust me, I'm the one who tried to teach him. He's awful at it. And he literally only knows how to make spaghetti, so he makes it all. The. Time."

Holly's look of bewilderment just made Undyne laugh. "He's a great guy, you'll like him. He can just be a little, uh…"

"Oblivious?" Alphys added. Undyne pointed at her girlfriend.

"Yeah, that."

Holly laughed. "All right, then. I'm probably gonna head to bed, since we're getting up a little early. When are we leaving? I don't know how long it takes to get to their house."

They made arrangements for when they would leave, Alphys thanking Holly for the dance. Holly hopped into bed, excitement buzzing in her head at the prospect of meeting new potential friends. She eventually dozed off, a small smile gracing her features.

The drive took about an hour, and Holly was undyingly grateful when they finally arrived at the skeleton brothers' house. Undyne's driving matched her personality—aggressive and terrifying. She didn't necessarily break any laws, but she was impatient at lights and stop signs and snarled whenever anyone cut her off or did anything even slightly slower than what she thought was appropriate. Holly found herself clinging to the hanging handle on the passenger's side and stomping on imaginary breaks every so often.

They drove onto a street with actual houses, not apartments. The houses were all the same boring shape and color, so Holly assumed these were probably rental homes. Undyne pulled into the driveway of one of the houses that had already been decorated for Christmas—lights were wrapped meticulously around the columns by the front door and hung in a draping pattern on the lip of their roof. Matching lights winked from within a manicured bush, and Holly realized it was a one of those net-patterned lights specifically for that purpose. A snowman, which Holly assumed to be fake given the lack of snow, smiled from the center of the yard. Looking at the windows, she could see vinyl cling cutouts of snowflakes decorating the edges.

Undyne had barely knocked on the door (or in her case, banged with a fist) when it opened, as if the person inside had been waiting right by the door to open it. A skeleton, nearly as tall as Undyne and somehow broader, grinned out of the doorway. His face was long and very much not like a real human's. Though she didn't have skeleton anatomy memorized, she was sure his bones were not anything like a human's. In fact, his face was lively and animated, like skin. Holly couldn't help but to stare.

"Hello Undyne! Ready for our super-private, personal training? Oh, and I can't forget your new friend!" He charged right towards Holly after Undyne wisely moved to the side, smirking.

Holly felt herself being lifted off the ground and squeezed by two hard, bony arms. The skeleton hadn't even strained at all when picking her up, which was mildly disconcerting.

"Uh, h-hi! Papyrus!" she wheezed, both amused and taken aback by his behavior. He gasped loudly.

"You already know my name! I-I mean, of course you know who I am, who wouldn't!? Well, don't be intimidated by The Great Papyrus's coolness and fame, human. You can treat me like a normal monster!" he insisted, putting Holly down and putting a hand to his chest. Holly noticed that he was wearing a set of red mittens and armor that made his chest and shoulders look very broad. It didn't really help her get rid of the RPG skeleton monster image in her head, though.

"I-I won't? Uh. I'm Holly," she introduced, smiling through her confusion. She put out a hand for a handshake, which Papyrus took with both of his and shook vigorously. Her teeth rattled with the force of it.

"Holly, eh? Well! It's so good to meet new people! Come inside, I've made my specialty that I save for new guests!"

He dragged Holly inside by the hand, which he'd never let go of, and Undyne snickered as she followed the two of them into the house. Holly's nose was immediately assaulted with the scent of burnt tomatoes as they went in. She automatically looked around to see if she could catch sight of the other brother, her curiosity aroused. If Papyrus was already _this_ colorful, she could only imagine what Sans would be like.

Papyrus sat Holly at a table, clasping his hands together and giving her an excited smile. His prominent teeth made it extremely endearing.

"Human! Is there anything I can get for you? Something to drink, maybe? Or are you hungry?" At the last question, his eyes (eye _sockets_ , Holly reminded herself) seemed to sparkle. How he managed this, she could only guess. _'Magic, probably.'_

"Uhh… I'm not really hungry, but maybe just a glass of water would be good?" Holly suggested, at which Papyrus clapped and zoomed into the kitchen.

"Of course, of course! Here you are," he said, coming back with the drink with inhuman speed.

"Th-thank you," Holly said politely, still not quite processing all of his energy. Undyne came to Holly's rescue, giving the human a teasing glance.

"Hey, Paps, let's get started on that training, huh?" she suggested. Papyrus blinked, then gave Undyne a sheepish smile.

"O-oh yes! I didn't forget about it, Undyne. I'll meet you out back!" He zoomed outside, the room going quiet for a few ticks of the clock, when he popped his head back inside.

" _Nyeh!_ Human, you should come and watch us! My battles are always a treat to watch, after all," he stated importantly before going back out. Holly took a sip of her water mechanically, her eyes lingering on where Papyrus had left. So, there _was_ someone out there who was louder than she was.

"…So that's…" Holly began, voice strained.

"Yep, that's Paps, all right," Undyne laughed, seeing the stunned look on Holly's face. "He can be a little overwhelming, but he's a good guy. You'll get used to him," she winked.

Holly giggled, Undyne's reassurance making her relax. "He's very… energetic," she commented. "But he's friendly." Undyne ruffled her hair.

"Yup. I'm gonna head out now before he blows a gasket. Come with and watch us, but stay on the steps by the door. I need to know where you are so ya don't get hit by any stray magic," she warned. Her lips pursed. "Hm, actually…" Undyne's hand glowed a greenish-teal color and a solid, pointed object formed.

"A spear?" Holly asked, grabbing it when Undyne offered it to her. The glow reminded her of a lightsaber from Star Wars, only this didn't burn when you touched the light.

"Ha, yeah. I forgot you haven't seen me fight before. It's my magic." Undyne sounded smug. "Makes sense, 'cause spears are badass."

Holly tested the weight of the lengthy weapon. "It's… light," she commented, surprised. Undyne chuckled.

"Yep, helps me to swing and toss 'em quicker. My spears are good at blocking incoming attacks, but you have to be pretty vigilant to do that. Just make sure you pay attention and use it, just in case," Undyne warned. Holly now suddenly had doubts about going outside, but when she looked up, Undyne's face was alight with excitement. She couldn't wimp out _now_. Undyne would be disappointed… and probably accuse her of being a weenie.

"Uh, o-okay, Undyne!" Holly chirped with false enthusiasm.

The weapon hummed in her hands. It stayed very warm, almost like she was touching Undyne herself and not magic, but the undulating green light that somehow stayed solid in her hands reminded her that the weapon was very much _magical_.

Undyne headed out back, propping the door open for Holly. The yard was a decent size—enough for a dog to live out back and run around. There was even a privacy fence wrapping around the yard, likely just the same as the other houses in the neighborhood. The grass, however, was dead in several places, and deep gouges ripped into the earth in so many places that the ground seemed as if it would cause anyone walking on it to stumble. Holly sat at the concrete steps as Undyne had requested, clutching the spear tightly. She noticed a strange pattern in the gouges, like a bunch of lines were parallel. It reminded her of really big claws shredding the ground like carpet.

Undyne stand squarely in front of Papyrus, a broad, fierce grin on her face. Of course she would find pleasure in sparring with a friend…

"Ready?" Undyne called, and Papyrus nodded, adopting the same stance as the other monster. A flash of deep blue light appeared by his hands, only to turn into a large, club-like bone. Holly smiled to herself. A skeleton monster using bones to fight just seemed like something she should have expected, but with magic, it was hard to expect anything.

The two of them circled one another, proving that while Papyrus was excitable, he also had the ability to focus, as his eyes never left Undyne. And then Undyne ducked in to make the first attack, her movement lightning-fast. Papyrus dodged just as quickly, his gangling limbs somehow graceful as he danced away.

Holly frowned, noticing the way each of them moved when they attacked and dodged. Undyne would summon a spear as she made the familiar, circular movements of Capoeira, throwing a spear using the momentum from the movement. Papyrus would dip and dive out of the way in a sort of strange pattern. Were they… dancing? Holly remembered Undyne mentioning that monsters danced when they fought. It had sounded strange and unnecessary at the time, but now, watching them… Papyrus's arms swept with long, graceful movements as he summoned his magic, and the rows of bones rising from the ground and circling Undyne to corner her followed the same motion.

So, the dance was useful to them because it directed their magic? Holly watched, fascinated and awed by how beautiful and destructive the two of them were. Fresh slashes appeared in the ground with each wave of bones Papyrus summoned; spears whizzed through the air and stabbed the ground where the skeleton had been moments before. She wondered vaguely at what Papyrus's dance was. It seemed much more coordinated than Undyne's, like a lively ballroom dance.

"My brother's pretty cool, huh?"

A baritone voice came from her left. She squeaked and looked up to see another skeleton staring down at her, a wide grin spread across his face.


	4. Older Sibling Syndrome

Holly stared at the new monster, gripping the spear Undyne had given her. A skeleton, shorter than Papyrus, grinned down at her, eye sockets impossibly dark save for two points of light. It took Holly a moment to realize that the lights were his version of pupils, trained on her every movement. She could see up through his jaw bone; it was hollow underneath.

"Heh, easy. Didn't mean to leave ya _rattled_ ," he said, holding his hands up. His cheek(bone)s pushed his eye sockets up with amusement.

"Uh, s-sorry..." she stammered, lowering Undyne's conjured weapon.

He shrugged and eased down to sit next to her, resting his elbows on his knees and his face on his palm. Holly noticed that his mouth didn't move when he spoke. Did he not need to? Papyrus did-his face was incredibly animated. Then again, skeletons had no tongues to speak with, so... _'Magic, probably. As usual...'_

Her eyes cast over his form, taking him in. He seemed to be very... comfortable. _'It_ is _his house, I guess,'_ she thought, noting the comfortable hoodie, basketball shorts, and slippers.

A beat passed where she remembered something Alphys had mentioned earlier, and her tension eased somewhat.

"Oh, y-you're… Sans, right?" she asked. His eyes flicked from watching Papyrus to her face, the bone under his eye sockets scrunching with amusement.

"Yup, that's me. My bro tell you?" he asked. His grin never moved—it was mildly unsettling.

"Oh, u-um, no he didn't, but Alphys mentioned that someone called 'Sans' was Papyrus's brother." She glanced back to watch the sparring, seeing that Papyrus was accepting Undyne's hand after being knocked down.

"Nice. She and Undyne mentioned you, too. The new human. Forgot your name though," he told her. In comparison to Papyrus, Holly noticed his tone was much quieter. Sans also mumbled where Papyrus would enunciate all of his words.

"I-I'm Holly. Good to meet you guys," she returned. She began to hold her hand out for a polite handshake, but realized he was extending the left. She fumbled and swapped hands.

Huh, a lefty. Holly was just about to mention that her sister was left-handed, too, when—

 _Pffffffpphhhllllbbbt._

Holly's thought was interrupted as Sans quickly and firmly pressed his hand to hers, compressing something squishy between them. A loud, obnoxious fart sound filled the space between them, leaving off with a pitiful little squeak as the last of the air escaped. Sans's grin widened to an impossible size, eye sockets crinkling with mischief.

Holly blinked, struck dumb for once. And then she snorted. A surprised laugh forced its way up her throat and exploded.

"Oh my God!" she cackled. If anyone had walked in, they might've compared her laughter to a mad scientist's. She feebly hit Sans's shoulder as the laughter got her to a point where she wheezed. "Ohhhh my God, you, you really… _did_ that…" she gasped, clutching her stomach. Sans started laughing along with her, his deep chuckles coming in waves.

" _SANS!_ " Papyrus yelled from the other side of the yard. Holly sighed in a mix of relief and happiness after her laughter stopped. "ARE YOU TORTURING OUR GUEST WITH YOUR TERRIBLE JOKES? YOU'D BETTER NOT BE!"

"No, no, Papyrus!" Holly answered before Sans could say anything. "It's fine, you guys keep sparring!"

The tall skeleton's bottom jaw jutted forward, eye sockets narrowed suspiciously at Sans. Holly was strongly reminded of when Michelle would give her the same look after a bad joke, though her sister would probably also have run over to slap her, too. Papyrus straightened and sighed deeply after a moment of pinching the bridge of his… nasal bone.

"Well, if you say so, human! Undyne, shall we—"

"HA, GOTCHA OFF GUARD, SKELE-DORK!" Undyne screeched before launching herself onto Papyrus and tackling him to the ground. Holly giggled, still giddy from laughing so much. Papyrus and Undyne weren't even sparring anymore—just horseplaying. Holly looked over at Sans, haven already taken a great liking to him.

"I haven't laughed like that since…" Her eyes dropped infinitesimally. _'Since the last time I saw Michelle in person.'_ "It's been awhile, ha."

Sans's grin never left his face, but it seemed to soften in response. "Heh heh, well, you're a good audience, that's for sure. Didn't think anyone laughed that hard at my jokes, 'cept Tori. Friend of mine."

"Yeah?" Holly asked, perking at the mention of other monsters she could meet. Despite Undyne being offended by the curiosity, she really couldn't help wanting to know more about the monster race. But then she remembered—Tori, Toriel. "Oh, I think Undyne and Alphys talked about her. Toriel, Frisk's adoptive mom, right?"

"Mhmm. She lives in another district, near a school where she teaches. Elementary school." He leaned back on his hands, turning his skull to give her a sidelong look. "So, made friends with Alphys and Undyne, huh?"

"Haaa… yeah. Though it, uh, didn't start off so well," Holly admitted. "Undyne got mad when I mentioned that I'd always wanted to meet a monster." She rubbed the sleeve of her sweater between her fingers. "She thought I was just being friendly out of pity, or because I wanted to look good."

The side of Sans's face wrinkled, though still the grin persisted. "Yeesh, yeah, that'd do it. Humans are a nosy bunch, but eh, curiosity isn't always so bad." His voice lowered slightly and he glanced towards Undyne before metting Holly's gaze again. "Undyne and Alphys have gotten the worst of it out of all of us, I think." His grin tightened at the corners. "Apparently same-sex is a big deal to you guys. Along with the whole monster thing."

Holly cringed. "Oh, _ew_ ," She inhaled slowly, then exhaled through her nose. "It's too bad monsters came up from the mountain to discover that people are a bunch of jerks. Even to each other," she said, now completely sobered up from her laughing fit. She did find herself wondering, though-were monsters more tolerant of literally everything? They were known to be really tolerant of beliefs, race, gender... all the things that humans _loved_ to discriminate against. She frowned, feeling uncomfortable and guilty that her race were giving monsters all such a difficult time when really, they could learn so much from them.

Sans waved a skeletal hand dismissively. "Nah. To be fair it's like, a fifty-fifty split. Half of ya are willin' to go out of your way to be welcoming, the other half, not so much. There's really awful people, but ya got the opposite, too."

Holly nodded slowly. "Well, that's… a good point. I guess the bad half is just louder about it," she said, laughing without humor.

"Mm," he rumbled. Papyrus and Undyne were back to sparring, though Holly could see that the two of them were slower now. They were getting worn out. Sans gave a heavy sigh. "I need to get somethin' straight real quick," Sans said, and Holly turned to look at him. The color drained from her face.

His grin stretched from one cheekbone to the other, both eye sockets focused on her. They were devoid of the little pinpricks of light, showing only that impossible darkness.

"Undyne might like ya fine, and that's good. But I don't know you. So I'm tellin' you once— **be good to my brother.** " The timbre of his voice rattled through her bones-it was like he spoke the last sentence along with another person, layered with malicious intent. He chuckled humorlessly, pupils reappearing. "He's a cool guy, so it won't be too hard," Sans finished, voice back to being carefree.

Well. Sans was _definitely_ a protective older brother.

Now Holly was wondering _exactly how strong_ monsters could be. She clutched Undyne's spear out of reflex, then looked down at it. They could summon weapons out of nowhere and use magic, and though she hadn't seen any of Sans's magic, she was sure it was probably similar to Papyrus's. Ice slipped through her veins as she surveyed the damage caused by the bones tearing through the yard. Holly looked over at Sans again, who was watching the sparring as if he hadn't just made her heart thud uncomfortably in her chest. She was suddenly reminded of the constant fear she once felt, before she had come to live here.

She wasn't certain if she liked Sans as much anymore.

He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his hoodie pocket and a lighter appeared in the other hand. Confused as to why a skeleton, of all people, would smoke, she watched him light it, the cigarette tucked between two fingers. His shoulders hunched forward as he took a drag, face lifting as he blew smoke into the air. It escaped from several places, including from between his teeth, his nasal cavity, and his eye sockets. She even saw a bit slip from where his throat would be. The sight of billowing smoke pouring from a skeleton was both fascinating and disconcerting, though a part of her couldn't help but to feel that the familiar routine was so… _human_. There was a stifling silence between them as the cigarette burned, the skeleton's eyes never glancing back in Holly's direction after the conversation had come to an abrupt end.

A shout brought her attention back to the sparring monsters, who had finished their session together, Papyrus walked towards the back door. Undyne clapped a hand on Papyrus's shoulder, cackling when he rubbed at a fresh dent in his armor. The taller skeleton's face lit up when he caught Holly in his sights.

"Hi again, human! I hope you enjoyed watching us train! Now, you must be famished, so come inside and we'll have the spaghetti I made especially for this occasion!" He ushered Holly into the house, Undyne closely following. Sans stayed outside, hands tucked into his hoodie pockets. Holly felt her back prickle, knowing without seeing that he was watching her carefully.

* * *

"So then Papyrus comes back in just to tell me I couldn't handle making friends with Frisk, and then of _course_ I had to take up the challenge," Undyne continued, jabbing her fork for emphasis. "At first I was just trying to do fun crap with the kid, y'know, like drinking tea and cooking lessons. But, well—long story short, we burned down the house—"

"Oh my God, Undyne, you didn't!" Holly was back to being cheerful after Sans's implied threat, and the monsters were telling stories about how they all met Frisk and befriended them. A plate of spaghetti sat in front of her, barely touched—the stuff was truly awful, though she had made the excuse of not being hungry so as to save Papyrus's feelings. Sans''s spaghetti had mysteriously disappeared, but Holly didn't remember seeing him eat any of it. Instead he was squirting ketchup into his mouth (on his teeth?) with a red, plastic bottle, like the ones Holly had seen in restaurants.

" _Yeah_ we did! I had to stay over at Papyrus's house," Undyne laughed. ""But yeah, the house was burned down and I was starting to think… maybe me and Frisk just weren't gonna get along at all. So of course I challenged 'em to a fight!" She pounded the table emphatically with her fist. "We didn't have any music or anything 'cause my CD player was on fire, but we started dancing anyway. Frisk did their frilly frou-frou dance routine while I did my awesome fighting thing, and at first I thought we weren't gonna get anywhere when suddenly, bam!" She pounded the table again, this time flinging a butter knife by accident. It fell onto the floor. ""I realized! The kid was a wimp, but a wimp with a really big heart." A fond smile, filled with pointed teeth, graced Undyne's features. "Reminded me of Asgore, really. We've been good friends after that."

"Wow," Holly commented. "Frisk must be a really brave kid to keep trying to be your friend. I can't say I wouldn't have run away," she laughed.

"Well, they did run away a lot at first!" Papyrus interjected. Holly saw Undyne stiffen. "Because Undyne was tracking them down, and—"

"A-and _that doesn_ _'t matter now because me and the kid are friends!_ " Undyne interrupted, her smile strained. The niggling feeling of doubt came back from when Undyne had lied in the car, and Holly wondered what she was trying to hide. Something to do with attacking Frisk? It was certainly something Holly would have to look into at a later time. She was tempted to ask Papyrus, who seemed unable to keep secrets, but part of her wanted to hear it from Undyne herself.

Unnoticed by anyone, Sans watched Holly's reaction closely.

Papyrus looked surprised at the interruption, but smiled wide. "Of course! Though Frisk is _besties_ with The Great Papyrus, of course," he stated proudly, putting a hand on his chest. Holly noticed that Papyrus did that a lot—it was sort of narcissistic, but in a harmless, funny kind of way.

"WHAT?! Nuh-uh, she's _my_ bestie! She likes anime way more than puzzles, dude," Undyne insisted, both hands gripping the edge of the table.

" _Nyeh!_ Your silly cartoons are nothing compared to the challenge and clashing of wits my puzzles give. In fact—" His thought was never finished, because suddenly Undyne had launched herself across the table to tackle Papyrus, one of her arms weaving under his armpit, her palm on the back of his skull. He went down with a startled _'NYOOOF!'_

"ANIME IS BETTER THAN PUZZLES! FRISK LIKES ME MOOOORE!" she screeched, a manic grin taking over her face. Papyrus was flailing and arguing, Undyne was giving him noogies, and Holly had scooted far away to the other side of the table.

"Heh heh, they're a riot," came San's voice. Holly couldn't help but to jump a bit, forgetting he was even sitting there because he'd been so quiet. Holly remembered his earlier (implied) threat, her palms sweating. She wondered why he would be so… well, _rude_ , but when she thought about it for a moment, it began to make sense.

Sans was being protective, like she would've done in his shoes when it came to Michelle. It had to be hard, being a minority and very different from the humans they were surrounded by… she couldn't really blame Sans for setting the rules down ahead of time.

It didn't mean she wasn't still unnerved by him, though.

"I'm gonna go watch T.V.," Sans muttered, pushing away from the table.

The two tall monsters were still hollering and carrying on—Papyrus's foot shot out and knocked over an empty plate onto the floor. Holly pushed herself away from the table. Sans ducked when a fork came flying in his direction, but never stopped walking. He turned into the hallway.

Deciding that she would take advantage of the moment to talk alone with Sans, she called out to him. "W-wait for me!" When she went to follow him, however, he had already disappeared somewhere. Her brows drew together in confusion, but she found him a few seconds later as she made her way into the living room.

"Uh, how did you…?" Sans glanced at her from over his shoulder. He was already kicked back, an arm slung across the back of the couch. Holly's bewildered expression only intensified. "You were… way over there? And now you're…?"

Sans shrugged. "Took a shortcut," he remarked, going back to watching the screen. He was flipping through channels, pausing on things he probably found interesting. He stopped and put the controller down when he saw Neil DeGrasse Tyson showed up on-screen, talking about black holes.

Holly's bottom lip pushed out at his non-answer, but she didn't say anything. "Can I sit with you?" she asked. Sans raised a brow at her, but shrugged and turned back to the television.

"If you want."

She settled down next to him, feeling his eyes watch her from his peripheral vision. She didn't want to leave the space around herself and Sans this way—she really liked Papyrus, and when Sans hadn't been threatening, he had been fun to talk to, as well. Holly straightened, determined to make nice.

"So, _older_ brother, right?" Holly said, though it wasn't really a question.

Sans hummed an affirmative. "How'd ya guess?" It wasn't really a question, either.

Holly smiled down at her hands, which were clasped over her lap. "Undyne told me. And… I have a little sister," she answered. "So I would have figured it out even if Undyne hadn't said anything." Sans turned a tiny bit more in her direction to give her an appraising look.

"Ah. Then, you know," he said, turning back to his show. It was a special, featuring several astrophysicists. Right now, Steven Hawking was speaking, though about what, Holly wasn't sure.

"Mhmm. She's my favorite person in the world. Papyrus… he's yours, huh?"

The corner of Sans's permanent grin lifted slightly. "Yeah. Always been together, y'know?"

The warm feeling Holly got when speaking about Michelle sank down in her stomach like a stone. Papyrus and Sans lived together, enjoying each other's company all the time. Holly used to have that, but ever since that day she had left that house… _'I'm such a coward for leaving her_ _._ _'_

"How much younger?"

Holly's eyes lit up. "She's six years younger. We're really close, though, even though nowadays we live… far away from each other," she said, the last part ending in a sigh. "I miss her a lot, but we talk on the phone and on Skype and everything." She wondered briefly if Sans knew what Skype was, and was about to explain it, but stopped herself. They'd been above ground for a few years now, so of course they'd know about things like Skype. It'd probably be rude to assume they didn't.

"Hm, 's too bad. Me and Paps have lived together since, uh… always. We get along fine. Except when he can't accept how great my humor is." He closed one eye and looked at Holly in a skeleton wink. She gave a genuine smile back, hoping that it meant he was warming back up to her.

"So you two lived underground together, too, right? Papyrus mentioned that you lived somewhere that was always snowy, but… I don't think I quite understand how that works," she mused. Sans lifted a brow (bone). "I mean, if you were underground… how did you get precipitation?"

Sans chuckled again, deep and rumbling. Holly was starting to like the sound—it was comforting, despite earlier. "Magic," he said unhelpfully, waggling his fingers in her face. She gave him an exasperated look. "Heh heh, dunno how to explain it to ya. I mean, we're made of magic, the underground was sealed by magic, lots of stuff worked by magic… it's not like this stuff that you can explain easily," he said, gesturing towards the television. Bill Nye had made a special appearance now and was talking about things Holly did not remember being on the kid's shows she used to watch.

"Pff, _easy_ , sure," she agreed sarcastically, though her tone was teasing. Sans shrugged.

"I like this kinda stuff. It's interestin'. Anyways, I guess… Snowdin was one of a bunch of places underground that had a permanent season. The Ruins were always in autumn, Snowdin was winter, Waterfall was spring, Hotland was summer…" he ticked off the areas in on his fingers. "There was a spell placed on all of 'em to perpetuate a sort of… fake weather system. We just recycled the water underground for weather. Kinda like how the atmosphere up here does it naturally. Monsters just kept it to one season per area. Made it easier for people to figure out where they wanted to live."

"…Huh. That would be nice to do up here," Holly commented. "Controlling weather and seasons, I mean. Would make for a perfect seasons for certain farms and things like that."

Sans shook his head. "Nah, we can't do it on that big a scale. Underground was kinda small, y'know."

Holly frowned. "Oh… I see. That sucks."

Sans snorted, but didn't say much else. They watched the program together in silence.

* * *

 **A/N: I realize that this update was very quick, but please don't expect them to always be this fast! I was just a little extra inspired this time. Also, my Frisk is female! I hope that does not bother anyone :)**


	5. The Truth

**A/N: Brief warning-some violence is described in this chapter. Special thanks to my friend, Akinai, for beta reading for me!**

* * *

After some time, in which Holly had gotten up to go help Papyrus clean up the kitchen, they all ended up in the living room. The taller skeleton sat next to his brother, Undyne taking up the spot on the other side. Holly chose an armchair across from them. Undyne made tea for them, though Holly was unfamiliar with this type. Papyrus had said it was golden flower tea, and as she took a sip, the aroma reminded her of jasmine tea.

"I hope you enjoyed lunch, human! The recipe is something I learned from Undyne," he said, smiling at his friend. Undyne glanced away and tucked a strand of her fiery hair behind a fin.

"Pff, you could learn better cooking from Holly, probably," she admitted, caught off-guard by the pride in Papyrus's voice. The tall skeleton gave Holly a surprised look.

"Oh? Do you know how to make spaghetti, too, human?" he asked, leaning forward in interest. Holly's lips curved upward.

"I do, actually—it's my grandma's recipe. She handed it down to me." She cast her eyes down to the coffee table, lost in a fond memory.

"Oh wowie! A family recipe passed down through the generations! She must be a very skilled chef," Papyrus commented.

"Yeah, she was," Holly smiled. "My grandma made lots of stuff, though. She was kind of old-school, y'know—made a lot of home-cooked meals." The monsters all fell silent for a moment, not missing the past tense.

"Sounds a lot like Tori," Sans finally said. "Her pies are awesome."

"Ooh, I'll have to try them sometime," Holly said. She really had a soft spot for sweet things. "Papyrus, maybe sometime I could show you how to make my grandma's spaghetti recipe? She would have loved to teach you, but I can do it in her place," she offered. Papyrus's palms came together under his chin, eyes lighting up.

"I would love that, human! It would be an honor to be a part of your family tradition!"

Holly gave him a big, genuine grin at this, feeling warmed by how honestly eager he was. He was just… so full of _sincerity_. People like Papyrus really didn't come around very often. "I'm glad! That gives me a reason to come back," she teased. She glanced over at Sans, who flashed her a thumbs-up that was hidden from the others' view.

"You and Frisk should meet! I could call Toriel and have her bring Frisk along next time you come for a visit," Papyrus suggested, caressing his chin thoughtfully.

"That sounds wonderful," Holly smiled, curling her hands around her teacup. Her thumbs rubbed against each other as she pondered how to say what was on her mind. "So… while you guys were telling stories about Frisk, I sort of noticed that you fought her a lot." She saw Undyne shift in her seat. "Why is that? Did she do something down there, or did you guys not know what she was at first…?"

There was a sudden, heavy silence, in which Papyrus nervously glanced between Holly and Undyne. Slowly, Holly leaned forward and put her empty cup down on the coffee table, wondering if it had been good idea to ask.

"…You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, I was just… curious," she amended, catching Sans's gaze. His pupils flicked towards his brother.

"Hey, bro, could ya do me a favor? I'm runnin' out of socks, can you run a load of laundry?"

Papyrus blinked, then gave Sans a disgruntled look. "Ugh, fine, brother, but you know _perfectly_ well how the washing machine works!" He walked away, muttering. The other two monsters waited until he left to begin talking.

"It's sort of a touchy subject," Sans said once his brother was out of earshot. "But… if you're gonna hang around with us, it's probably better we tell ya the story."

"Does… Papyrus know?" Holly asked hesitantly. Sans shook his head, expression darkening.

"Nah. He doesn't need to know everything."

Holly's gaze lingered on him, an unspoken agreement passing between them. "Okay."

Undyne took the initiative and began speaking first. "Well, you know monsters were trapped underground for hundreds of years, right?"

Holly leaned back in the armchair, giving Undyne her complete attention. "Mhmm, and you said things could come in through the barrier, but they couldn't leave. But you broke through somehow, right?"

"Yeah, we did. But the humans who trapped us put certain… conditions on the spell." She held up a finger. "One, a single monster could only get through the barrier if they had one human soul with them. Vice-versa for a human."

Holly's eyes widened. "How… do you obtain a soul exactly…?"

"You kill the soul's owner," Undyne answered unhappily. Her visible eye never left Holly's face. "The second condition set on the spell was for breaking it completely. To do that, we needed one monster soul… and seven human souls."

 _Oh_. She continued when Holly failed to comment.

"Over hundreds of years, a bunch of human kids fell into the Underground," she said. "They'd all wound up being captured by someone, and brought to King Asgore. And he would… take their souls. Frisk's was going to be the final one."

"Asgore… he killed _kids?"_ Holly whispered in horror. Undyne lifted her lip over her teeth in a snarl.

"He was doing what he _had_ to! He… he didn't want anyone else to have to… do it," she defended, though she sounded unsure. "When Frisk came down, Papyrus didn't want to capture her. He made friends instead." She shook her head, an affectionate smile curving her lips. "He had failed to capture the human. At the time, I was furious… he didn't understand the gravity of what he'd done. So I went after Frisk myself."

Sans stayed silent, but watched Holly intently. She could feel his restlessness.

"She kept running away—once, there was even a monster kid who stood between me and Frisk." Undyne snorted derisively. "I was so angry that the human would use such cheap tactics to escape me. When I finally confronted her, I didn't even tell her the reason I was attacking." She frowned. "I… had fully intended to kill Frisk," she admitted, looking Holly right in the eyes.

Holly stared at her, aghast. Her _friend_ , someone she was starting to care deeply about, had tried to kill a kid? And yet… The look on her face was nothing short of pain and guilt.

Holly appreciated that she was telling the truth, and so bravely. Frisk wasn't dead, Undyne hadn't managed to actually commit an unspeakable act. But the intention behind her actions…

She dipped her head at the monster to continue. Holly noticed her fins droop with each passing moment.

"She ran all the way to Hotland. I went after her, but my armor was not designed for that place. I… passed out," she grumbled, looking embarrassed. "But then, instead of running off, that dork went and got water to splash on me," Undyne said, shaking her head and then frowning. "Now that I look back on it, she never _once_ tried to fight back." She squeezed her eyes shut and dug her claws into the fronts of her thighs. "Frisk didn't deserve to be attacked. She must've been really scared…"

Holly got up and placed a hand on her friend's shoulder. "Hey… you were doing what you thought was going to save everyone, right?" The monster looked up at Holly, surprised. "I'm… not saying I approve of what the monsters were doing. What _you_ intended to do. But…" Holly let her hand fall off of her friend's shoulder. "I can understand why you all felt so desperate."

Undyne looked away, unwilling to speak. Sans took up the story in her stead. "Frisk managed to break the barrier, even without usin' her soul." He focused on something across the room, as if recalling a long-lost memory. "None of us remember exactly how she did it, and she never told us." He shrugged his shoulders stiffly. "But… we're free now, and she didn't have to die."

Holly's brows drew together as she sat back down. "But… what happened to the souls you guys already had? The six human souls that had been there before Frisk?"

"No idea," Sans answered, holding his hands palms-up. He got to his feet. "Anyways, that's about the long and short of it." He glanced down at Undyne, who was staring resolutely at the coffee table. "Almost everyone went after Frisk—not just Undyne. They wanted freedom. For themselves, for…" He jerked his head towards the hallway, where Papyrus had gone. "…loved ones. So don't judge us too harshly, huh?" He started down the hallway, pausing to add, "And, uh… not all humans know about all this. It'd probably be best if they didn't."

He scuffed away, leaving Undyne and Holly alone. Both of them were too lost in thought to say much to one another.

* * *

They left soon afterwards, saying their goodbyes to the skeleton brothers. The sun had already gone most of the way down, and Undyne wanted to get back to Alphys. She feebly joked that her girlfriend would get so into her paperwork, that she wouldn't even notice the time passing. Holly thanked Papyrus for a wonderful time, leaning into the hug he gave her this time. She gave Sans a little wave and he smirked before returning it.

The car ride was quiet on the way home. Holly rested her temple on the glass of the passenger window, eyes flicking back and forth as she idly watched trees passing by.

The monsters all seemed like really good people so far. She could hardly believe that most of them had wanted to claim Frisk's soul—to kill a _kid_ —for the sake of breaking a spell. Though, being trapped for what was likely hundreds of years… she couldn't say that she would've sacrificed some stranger's life for the sake of Michelle's freedom. Hell, maybe even for her own freedom. Being stuck in a place that didn't even sound that big, having to live without seeing the sky or knowing what it felt like to have the sun on your back…

But at the same time, she felt betrayed, somehow. She had put her trust in Undyne, believed she was an innocent victim of humans trapping her underground along with other monsters, only to find out that she was an adamant human hunter. That she had sealed off her compassion enough to be okay with going after a lone child. Holly glanced over at Undyne. The monster looked pensive, and hadn't once yelled at any drivers on the road since she'd started driving back. Her fins had lowered down until they folded like collapsed paper fans.

Holly cared about her. It was far too late now to go back from that, even if her friend had done awful things. Undyne obviously felt remorse for her actions now, which was of some comfort. It would take a while to completely forgive this, but for now, it could be put aside. She hadn't known Undyne and Alphys for very long, but Holly could say with complete honesty that she loved these two people very much. She cared deeply for them, and this, too, would pass.

They finally arrived at the apartment complex parking lot. Undyne turned off the engine, but didn't open the door to leave. She heaved a deep sigh, not meeting Holly's eyes.

"Hey, uh…" She hesitated. "Would… you be okay with me coming over to your place still? I would get it if you, uh, didn't want me to come over anymore," she finished, sounding defeated.

Holly breathed in, then let the air go slowly through her nostrils. "Undyne, you are always welcome in my apartment." Undyne finally looked over at her, her visible eye lighting up with hope. "I… I'm not going to lie," she continued, rubbing her wrist with the opposite hand. "It does bother me pretty deeply that you attacked an innocent kid with the intention to kill. But… you didn't go through with it. And you couldn't hurt her once you found out how good of a person she was, and you obviously regret having done… that."

The monster nodded, frowning thoughtfully.

"I love you a whole lot already, Undyne. And Alphys, too. And I'm sure I'll keep falling in love with Papyrus and… Sans," Holly said, touching Undyne's hand. "I promise I won't mention this to anyone else. And I won't judge other monsters by it without getting to know them at first." She scratched the side of her face. "But it will definitely be on my mind."

There was a few seconds of silence before Undyne threw herself at Holly, engulfing her between two powerful arms. "I really can't ask any more of ya, Holl," she muttered. Holly returned the hug, smiling softly. They pulled away from each other, Undyne's eye shining with suspicious brightness.

They looked at each other for a few seconds, thought the silence felt much lighter than before. "Well, guess we should get back to our apartments," Undyne finally said. Holly chuckled.

"Yeah. C'mon, we can walk together part of the way."

They got up to the stairs where their paths split before Undyne said goodbye, giving her friend one more hug.

"Thanks, really," she said sincerely, ruffling Holly's hair. The human smiled and walked back to her apartment, unlocking the door and tossing herself onto the couch.

There was a lot to process. She felt a little better that she and Undyne were okay for now, but she wondered how exactly she was supposed to make friends with other monsters without her opinion of them being tainted before she got to know them. The excitement she felt about meeting new monsters dissipated; now, instead of bubbling warmth and happiness, she felt cold and sadness. A few moments passed until she got up, trying to shake the thoughts that invaded her mind. She slipped into pajamas and sat in front of her laptop, checking out Skype for messages from Michelle. If anyone could take her mind off things, it was her sister.

 _6:48pm You: heya_

 _6:48pm You: haven't heard from ya for a while, miss talking to you. Give me a call when you're free, or maybe we can do a skype call? I got news to share about my life and stuff :3_

A minute or so passed. She hesitantly keyed in the next entry.

 _6:51pm You: I made some new friends and I really like em, but_

 _6:52pm You: I found out stuff about them that isn't so good and I dunno what to think. Just kinda wanted to chat with you about it when you get a chance_

There was no answer, and she didn't really expect one at this point. Her sister had been busy with the move lately, and probably had spotty Internet at the moment. It didn't keep Holly from feeling incredibly lonely. She sighed and slammed the laptop shut, her head lowering into her hands. Her fingers threaded through her hair until she felt the sting of the roots pulling.

 _BANG BANG BANG BANG._

"HOLLY! HOLLY _PLEASE_ , IT'S UNDYNE, OPEN THE DOOR! I _NEED_ YOU, PLEASE HOLLY, IT'S ALPHYS—"

She sprinted to open the door, the note of panic in Undyne's voice making her heart lurch. She wrenched open the door to see her friend standing in the doorframe, holding Alphys in her arms. The yellow monster was limp and lifeless, face smudged with what looked like soot or dirt.

Holly's heart stuttered to a stop.

"Wh-what—"

"Sh-she was attacked, I don't know—I don't know how long ago, but I found her on the floor—Holly please, I need h-help—" Undyne's face was streaked with tears that kept flowing. Holly saw her whole frame hunch around Alphys's still body, as if using herself to protect her lover. The monster wouldn't stop trembling.

"Okay, okay shh, Undyne, bring her inside." Holly moved aside to let her inside. She didn't seem to want to put Alphys down, and she paced back and forth like a restless tiger in a cage. Holly saw the angry panic setting in.

"Undyne! Listen to me, Alphys needs to go to a _hospital_."

Undyne shook her head vigorously, her fiery hair sticking to the wet parts of her face. "Human hospitals won't _do_ anything for her!" she snarled. "I… maybe Toriel? Toriel! Sh-she can heal, but…" She looked down at her girlfriend's face. "It's too far, I don't know how bad she is or how long she'll l-last!"

"Okay, Undyne, what about Papyrus? Or Sans? Do they know anything about healing?" Holly asked calmly, though she felt her breath tremble inside her own chest.

" _No!"_ Undyne cried, her voice breaking. "Th-they don't know any healing—" Her eye lit up with insane hope. "Sans! Sans c-can teleport, he can take her—" She tried to fumble for her phone in a pocket, though she kept losing her grip on Alphys.

"Shh, keep holding onto her, I'll get it, Undyne." Holly reached into her pocket, the awkwardness of the action lost on them in the moment.

"C-call Papyrus, Sans never answers, but get Sans on the phone and tell him," she said. Holly nodded, scrolling through her friend's contact list until she saw _'Papyrus :D'_. She hit the 'dial' button.

He picked up before the first ring ended. "Hello, Undyne!" came his cheerful voice. "Did you forget someth—"

"Papyrus, it's me, Holly," she interrupted. "Listen, is your brother there? It's an emergency, we need him."

Papyrus, thankfully, didn't question her. "Of course, human. Brother!" he called, voice sounding more distant. He'd probably moved his face away from the phone. "Sans, it's an emergency! The human from earlier is on the phone!"

The deep baritone voice was clipped. "What's wrong?"

"Sans, Alphys is hurt, and Undyne said you can get here and take her to Toriel," Holly explained quickly.

"…Where are you?"

"We're at my apartment. Do you need directions?" she asked him.

"No. Get a picture of the inside of your place. I know the general area of that complex, but I need somethin' to focus on in order to get to your place with my magic. Find somethin' specific, like a knick-knack. Anything unique."

"Okay, got it. Hold on," she said, and switched the phone to camera mode. The living room would work fine; Holly had a special knit blanket from her grandma draped over the couch, and Alphys's copy of _Mew Mew Kissy Cutie_ on the table. She highly doubted anyone else had the exact same items in their living room, combined with her exact furniture. She sent it in an attachment to Papyrus's phone and got back on the receiver. "Did you get it?"

"Yep. Be there in a sec." The line went dead—he had hung up.

A brief, tense moment passed in which Holly could hear Undyne sniffling, when a soft _pop_ sounded. She could feel a strange crackling in the air, and suddenly Sans stood in her living room.

"Sans, please, take her," Undyne said, holding Alphys out to the skeleton. He gently scooped up the dinosaur monster and gave the other two a nod. "I'll be at Toriel's. I can't take all of ya, but you'll be there in a bit, yeah?" he asked, and Undyne nodded. There was another _pop_ , and a crackling that felt like the static when Holly would touch the front of an old television screen, and he was gone.

Undyne was already grabbing Holly's hand. "Come on, we've gotta get to Toriel's house," she insisted, sounding much more collected than before.

Holly nodded. "Lead the way."


	6. Aftermath

The drive took less than an hour, at the speed Undyne went. Holly pulled out her cell phone.

"Who are you calling?" Undyne asked, eyeing Holly from the side.

"Well, we should probably tell the cops what happened," she answered, but Undyne grabbed her hand to stop her.

"Holly… _they_ won't help us. You and I both know that monsters don't have the same rights as humans."

Holly faltered, heart sinking. The police were corrupt; more often than not, they sided with humans before monsters, and a lot of evidence would be covered up. She'd seen it so many times in the media and when monsters spread the word on social websites. She nodded, swallowing hard, and Undyne released her hand.

Soon enough, they came to a quaint little house with blue paneling and white trim. As they pulled up into the driveway, Holly noticed Papyrus's bright red car. Sure enough, he was the one to answer the door after they tromped up the steps. He was beside himself; Holly could see tear tracks down his cheekbones. One look at Undyne and he wordlessly stood aside so she could rush in to find her girlfriend.

He wrung his hands and glanced at Holly, who put a hand on his arm. His bones felt much warmer than she expected. "Everything's gonna be okay," she told him, channeling her big sister instincts. He nodded shakily. Holly patted him reassuringly and went inside.

She was met with the warm scent of cinnamon and sugar and immediately thought of her grandma. She reflexively kicked her shoes off by the door before stepping onto the generic, cream-colored carpet. She noticed a fireplace to the left as she walked in, the hearth neatly swept, photos of several different children framed and set carefully on the mantel. She tore her eyes away, not wanting to intrude on something that felt very private, and stepped further into the house.

Alphys was draped across a large couch, her head in Sans's lap. Sitting in a wooden chair pulled from the nearby dining room table was a large, white monster with soulful eyes. She looked to be patching up Alphys, her white paws near the yellow monster's face—but when Holly looked, the unfamiliar monster wasn't using bandages. Instead, her hands glowed a soft fuchsia, and when she hovered over a cut, it slowly and neatly pulled back together and healed as if it had never been there. Holly could only gape in amazement, but then sobered when Alphys sighed in her unconscious state.

A quick glance at the yellow monster showed much more color in her face, her breathing even and unlabored. Holly breathed a sigh of relief as Undyne stumbled over to her, falling to her knees and sagging across her girlfriend heavily.

Undyne's voice was thick with emotion and she trembled. "Whoever did this to Alphys—whatever coward who waited for her to be alone, I'm gonna _find_ them, I'm gonna f-find them and—"

" _Undyne_ ," the white, goat-like monster interrupted sharply, and surprisingly the fish monster quieted. Undyne spoke again a moment later, her tone much more subdued.

"Toriel, thank you so much."

"Of course, Undyne," the monster named Toriel answered in a much gentler tone. Her wine-red eyes moved up to lock onto Holly. "You must be the human I've heard about recently. I am Toriel. However…" Her gaze landed on the couple. "I am very sorry to meet you this way."

Holly hand's fidgeted and picked at her clothing, the calm that she displayed earlier beginning to fall apart now that the emergency was over. "Yeah, me too…"

"Mom?" A young voice sounded from the other side of the living room. Holly looked up to see a gangling human teenager standing in the doorway, carrying platter full of food items.

"Oh, Frisk, just put that down on the table. Alphys can have some when she wakes up." She addressed the fish monster as the teenager obeyed, putting everything down and sitting on the carpet near Sans's feet. Holly glanced up at the skeleton, flinching when she saw what she thought was accusation in his eyes. He looked away before she could tell.

"Undyne, dear, you should eat a little. It'll ease your nerves. You, too, ah…" Toriel paused on Holly.

"Oh, sorry, my name's Holly," she introduced, lowering herself down to sit on the carpeted floor beside Frisk. She spotted a half-eaten pie that looked somewhat enticing. Her stomach snarled—right, she'd skipped dinner at Papyrus's. She tried to cut herself a piece, but realized she couldn't because her hands were shaking. The teen stopped her, taking the pie cutter away.

"I'll get it for you," Frisk offered softly, giving her a sad smile. Holly released a breath, giving them a grateful look.

"Thanks."

Under normal circumstances, Holly would be firing questions at Frisk, but at the moment, she simply didn't have the energy. There was silence as Frisk cut a piece of their adoptive mother's pie, put it onto a small plate, and handed it over to Holly.

Holly took it mechanically and stared down at it, her vision suddenly hot and blurry.

Alphys could have _died_. The fact that neither she nor Undyne had been there to protect her, that they hadn't _insisted_ she come with them to Papyrus''s—Her hands trembled so badly she nearly dropped her plate—

A pair of arms wrapped around her middle, and Holly's vision was full of soft, brown hair. Frisk was hugging her, trying to give her comfort. Holly released the breath she was holding and squeezed the teenager tightly, tears burning her eyes. _'Frisk's hair smells nice,'_ she thought offhandedly.

"S-sorry, I just…"

"It's okay. We're all scared, too," Frisk murmured in a sweet voice. Holly's lip quivered. Not ten minutes of knowing the kid, and already she was attached to them. Holly let herself cry for a few more minutes before a large hand covered the top of her head. She looked up to see the upside down face of Papyrus smiling down at her.

"You have had a very tiring day, human. Toriel offered to let us stay… perhaps one more person, please, Miss Toriel?" he asked, glancing up at the goat monster. She smiled warmly.

Holly winced. "Oh, n-no, I wouldn't want to impose, and plus I have work tomorrow…" she stammered half-heartedly. The truth was, she planned on calling out in the morning. There was no way she could concentrate on work after tonight—and she doubted that she would get enough sleep for tomorrow's shift, anyway.

"Nonsense," Toriel dismissed. "Any friend of the girls is a friend of mine," she said, giving Alphys and Undyne a fond look. Holly thought it strange that she referred to everyone as if they were her own children, but it was endearing.

Holly sighed, sagging with relief. She honestly didn't want to be alone tonight. "Well… thank you. Really."

Another thought crossed her mind and she voiced it aloud. "Undyne, you two are gonna need a place to stay. You can crash at my place for a while, it's the same distance to your work that way. I think my couch has a pullout bed, though it's not that great, honestly…"

Undyne's face was a mix of confusion, relief, and hesitancy. "I… you would do that for us? After…?" She trailed off. Papyrus glanced between the two of them, confused and worried. Holly frowned.

"I _said_ you were always welcome, Undyne. Did you not believe me?" she snapped. Undyne looked stunned, but then a big, watery smile spread across her face.

"…Guess I do now."

Sans was staring at Holly raptly, brows knitted. He seemed unsure of what to make of her.

"Well, then," Toriel said, addressing the room. "We'll need to make sleeping arrangements. Sans, are you and Papyrus staying the night?"

The shorter skeleton nodded. "Yeah. Kinda wanna make sure Alph is okay."

"All right. Do you two mind sleeping on the couches? I want to give Undyne and Alphys the guest bedroom," Toriel asked. The brothers both nodded an affirmative.

"Yeah, that's fine."

"Of course!"

"Frisk, you can sleep with me tonight," she told her adoptive child, who groaned but looked secretly pleased. Holly couldn't blame them; Toriel looked soft and fluffy. It was probably like cuddling a really big cat.

"Holly, you can take Frisk's room. She won't mess with anything in there, I promise," she added before her child could retort. Frisk pushed out a bottom lip, then turned to the other human. They pointed two fingers at her narrowed eyes, then turned them towards Holly.

Holly blinked, and then snorted. "I'm honestly just gonna hang out on my cell phone and crash out, Frisk," she reassured the teen.

"Hmm, okay," Frisk relented. Their frown then curled into a mischievous grin, their brown eyes flicking across Holly from top to bottom. "Nice PJ's, by the way."

Holly looked down at herself, eyes widening. She'd forgotten that she had changed into her leopard-print pajama set back at the apartment, and now she was in a room full of monsters—some of which she hadn't met yet. Her face flushed crimson. "W-well! I didn't know this was gonna happen," she retorted.

Frisk snickered mercilessly.

* * *

The stars had long been out by the time they all finally made their way to bed. The mood was somber; even Papyrus seemed more pensive than usual as he crawled onto the larger couch. Holly watched as Sans took a seat on the arm of the couch to face his brother, waiting for the taller skeleton to settle in.

"Okay, Sans, I'm ready for tonight's bedtime story!" Papyrus announced, blanket tucked under his chin. Holly couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. Sans still told his kid brother stories to put him to sleep at night? It seemed a little childish, but… somehow, it fit them.

The older skeleton flicked his eyes in her direction, raising a brow at her. She blushed and averted her eyes, ducking into Frisk's room. Right, privacy was difficult to come by when the house was so crowded, though somehow she doubted Sans would have minded if any of the monsters watched. _Holly_ was the stranger. She felt her lips turn down at the thought, even as she rationalized that his reaction was fair. He'd only met her today, and he seemed the type of person to warm up slowly to new people. She stepped into the bedroom nearest to the living room, remembering where it was from when Toriel showed her.

Holly looked around Frisk's room, smiling a little to herself. It was almost like a museum of odds and ends—an old ice cream wrapper stuck out of one of Frisk's drawers; a pair of beat-up ballet shoes hung from a plastic wall hang. Frisk's dresser had several photos of herself, looking younger, with each of the monsters. One of them was someone Holly hadn't seen, but it looked like a bigger, blonde-bearded version of Toriel. In another photo, Frisk was turned backwards, sticking their tongue out over their shoulder, while a familiar robot-man struck a pose on Frisk's other side.

' _Mettaton,'_ Holly realized. The robot-monster had become something of a celebrity in the past few years after the monsters had surfaced. He ran a talk show, though it was honestly more of an 'anything goes' sort of thing than a full-fledged talk show.

A slightly ajar window with gauzy curtains allowed a breeze to flow through. Holly decided she's leave the window cracked open that little bit, seeing as the fresh air felt nice.

She listened to Sans's voice carry down the hallway, repeating a simple story from a kid's book she recognized. She remembered that she'd tried to get a hold of Michelle earlier on Skype, and pulled her cell phone out to dial her sister's number.

The line rang a few times until an automated voice informed her that the caller was not available, and to leave a message. Holly took a deep breath.

"Hey, Michelle, it's Holly. I know you've been super busy lately, but uh… I miss talking to ya," she began. Leaving one-sided voicemails was _always_ awkward. "I made some new friends and they're really… really great, Mish. I wanna tell you all about 'em and hear about your new place and everything, so, uh, call me back soon? Love you. Sweet dreams."

She turned the singular lamp sitting on Frisk's nightstand off before peeling back the sheets and sliding in. She folded her hands over her abdomen and stared up at the ceiling. It was covered in glow-in-the-dark stars and planets. Holly remembered wanting those glow-in-the-dark decals in her room when she was Frisk's age, though she dared not ask her mother to buy them. Such a small indulgence was simply not worth all the yelling that would ensue as a result of asking for something so trivial.

Her mind settled back on Alphys, worry twisting her stomach into knots. Holly knew by now that Alphys would physically be okay. Mentally, the monster likely had a long road ahead, but for now… Alphys was alive. Safe. Holly thought of how frail the shy, nerdy monster had looked in Undyne's arms. She hadn't considered that monsters were just as easily killed as humans, but now she was forced to accept this fact. Alphys's attackers only had to have the _intent_ to kill, and she would've been gone.

A choked noise escaped her throat and she realized that tears had slid down the sides of her face and into her hair. She sniffed noisily and dabbed her nose with the sleeve of her pajamas, not wanting to make a mess all over Frisk's sheets. She blinked through her blurred vision to glance at the digital alarm clock Frisk had on the nightstand.

1:04 AM. Ah. So she'd been staring up at the ceiling for far longer than she'd thought. Holly groaned and rolled onto her side. She was exhausted.

But as the minutes ticked by, she came no closer to unconsciousness. She was so tired, but not _sleepy_ ; her buzzing mind kept her awake.

A dark shape flickered across the faint moonlight and she shot up in alarm.

"Whoa, hey, just me," came San's quiet baritone. Holly squinted into the darkness and saw two pinpricks of light, realizing she was seeing his eyes staring right back at her. Monsters were definitely something to get used to.

"Sans? Is anything wrong?" she whispered, worried that Alphys might have gotten worse during the night.

"Nah. Everything's fine. I, uh, heard …" He trailed off, sounding reluctant to finish the sentence.

Oh, right. She'd had been crying and sniffling. She flushed and didn't say anything, but moved to turn on the light.

Sans was just in a white tee and his basketball shorts, and a pair of socks that seemed to barely stay on his feet without the flesh humans had to keep them situated. He squinted into the light for a few seconds, seeming annoyed by it.

"I couldn't sleep," he admitted. He edged forward, but hesitated and stayed where he was.

Holly scooted over in the bed to give him space to sit. Sans gave her an odd look but shuffled over, sitting far enough away to not risk accidentally touching her.

"Do you often have sleepless nights?" Holly asked softly. Sans gave her a sidelong look.

"Used to. It's not so bad recently, though. Just when…" he trailed off and she nodded in understanding. _Just when my friends are attacked in their own home._

"Are you and Alphys close?" she asked before her tired brain could filter her speech.

Sans shifted next to her, making the bed creak under his weight. "It's sorta… complicated," he hedged. Holly's face reddened.

"O-oh, you guys were…?" she squeaked. Sans looked over at her and noticed the expression, and he waved his hands at her frantically.

"Oh, nothin' like that!" His natural grin thinned. "We were just acquaintances way back when. But Undyne and Papyrus are close, and now she's datin' Alphys, so…" He kicked his feet at the edge of Frisk's bed. Holly was reminded of a child.

"Ah."

He let his gaze fall away from her and heaved a sigh with his nonexistent lungs. "Hey, uh, I came in here because I wanted to clear a few things up."

She tensed, remembering what happened the last time he wanted to make something clear.

"Yeah, I know, I freaked you out earlier. 'm not gonna do anything to ya." He gave her a skeleton wink. "Unless you make me."

Holly couldn't really find it in herself to laugh at this, because now she was unnerved that he'd pinpointed her thoughts exactly. She licked her lips.

Sans turned away. "Listen. Monsters don't have it easy up here. What happened to Alph…" He closed his eyes, the space between his brows drawing together. "Stuff like this has happened before. To a lot of us." He looked over at her, his eye sockets empty; this time, the gesture didn't seem to be threatening. "Some didn't make it."

Holly's chest tightened.

"Toriel thinks we should forgive those humans. The king's told us not to retaliate, sayin' it'll only make things worse." His voice had an edge to it, as if he was frustrated. Holly couldn't really blame him. She'd wanted so badly to report those people. To punish them for what they'd done. But it was not so simple.

She frowned, fisting the comforter between white-knuckled fingers. If only they could just find the perpetrators themselves—then, maybe, they could just make those people vanish without a trace.

 _But_ … Toriel the king were right. Violence beget violence, and attacking someone was really not something Holly would ever be able to bring herself to do.

 _But_ … Alphys could have died. What was Holly supposed to do to keep her friends safe, if not deal with the threat?

A hand on her arm brought her back to the present. She jumped, startled at the touch, and she saw Sans flinch back as if burned.

"Sorry, I didn't mean… you were starin' out into space," he apologized. He brought a hand to his own cheekbone. "You… you got a li'l somethin' there, kid."

She mirrored his movement and wiped away the tears. "O-oh. Thanks."

There was an awkward silence that stretched between them. Sans kept looking over as if to say something, but stopped himself several times before actually speaking.

"Listen… When I first heard about Alph, I went straight to blamin' you for it."

Holly's head shot up. She opened her mouth to retort, but Sans held up a hand to stop her.

"I thought it _had_ to be related to you somehow. You makin' friends with them, only for an attack to happen right after..." His hand lowered. "I thought of all the ways you coulda been behind it." His grin was coming surprisingly close to being a grimace. "But. I saw how you reacted to seein' Alph all banged up. And how ya treated everyone, like Frisk." His gaze softened. "…Like my brother. And then I thought about somethin' Pap said once. About how we shouldn't judge any humans before getting' to know 'em." He shrugged. "So I'm not gonna do that."

Holly wasn't sure how to react. "Okay…?"

His eyes slid to the side. "It just means I'm gonna try n' be open-minded about you."

Holly pursed her lips. This was awfully arrogant, assuming that his opinion meant so much. And yet… she could sense that Sans was important, that he was like the glue that held everyone together. The behind-the-scenes stage manager. So she stuck her hand out to shake on it.

"I appreciate it, Sans."

She was confused by the flash of mischief across his features until she heard the whoopee cushion sound as their hands met. Her face fell flat.

"…I take it back."

He just laughed at her.

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks to my friend, Akinai, for being the beta reader again! You're a big help!**


	7. Favors for Friends

The scent of pancakes and bacon tempted Holly enough to peel her eyes open early the next morning, despite the heavy sleepiness she felt. For a moment, she forgot where she was and panicked, but her irrational reaction passed quickly when her memory kicked in.

She yawned widely, kicking the comforter off with some effort since it had tangled between her legs. Remembering that she was supposed to call off work today, she grabbed her phone and tapped into the app specifically for her workplace's employees. Confirming her callout and her knowledge of docked attendance points, she tucked her phone into the pocket of her pajama pants and stumbled her way into the living room.

She was surprised to see Alphys and Undyne there, both cuddled up and watching the news at a low volume. Holly noticed that Alphys had looked up a little too quickly, her tail curling at her side. But her face relaxed into a smile when she saw who it was.

"O-oh, it's just… good morning," she greeted. The monster's glasses magnified a black eye.

Holly rushed forward and surrounded Alphys in a soft hug. "Alphys! You're awake!" She leaned back, hands on the monster's shoulders so she could inspect Alphys. "How are you feeling? Are you okay?"

"Easy, Holly," Undyne warned. Her voice was gravelly and rough; Holly looked over at the fish monster and saw deep black circles under her visible eye and peeking from the bottom of her usual eye patch.

"I-it's okay, Undyne," Alphys said, then looked at the human. "I'm… uh, I've been better," she admitted. "Toriel gave me some p-painkillers. I was a little sore when I woke up."

Holly wanted to ask her about what happened, but she refrained, knowing that Alphys would say in due time—or, at least, she'd have told Undyne, who would let everyone know.

She let out a huge sigh and grabbed Alphys's hand. "I'm just… so glad you're okay," she said, her voice thickening with tears. The yellow monster panicked.

"D-don't cry! I'm fine, really!" she insisted, her hands waving in front of her frantically. She looked up at Undyne for help, but the fish monster shrugged. Neither of them were very good at dealing with crying people.

"I'm okay, Alph," Holly reassured. "You just… we were all so worried about you." _'We could have lost you,'_ was left unsaid, since she knew it wouldn't help anything, but they knew what Holly meant. There was a brief, sobering silence, before Toriel thankfully announced that breakfast was ready.

Holly walked into the kitchen, eyeing the island countertop with more than a little jealousy. Frisk and Toriel were bustling about, Frisk grabbing plates and forks and napkins, while Toriel was pulling out butter and syrup and orange juice.

"I can help," Holly offered. Toriel turned and gave a grateful smile.

"Oh, that'd be sweet of you, dear. Can you help Frisk set the dining room table?"

The two humans placed seven plates around the huge dining room table in silence.

"Thanks for letting me sleep in your bed," Holly said, putting a napkin down with a fork on top. Frisk gave a grin.

"No big deal."

Papyrus and Sans came in from outside a few minutes later—Papyrus had finished a morning run around the block when Undyne had reminded him that his training wasn't to be put on hold, and Sans had gone outside for a cigarette break. Holly suspected he was keeping an eye on Papyrus. She also suspected Undyne had given the tall skeleton something to do so he didn't dwell on everything. Papyrus seemed to be the little brother to every monster he knew—or a kid, in Toriel's case.

They all sat down at the table, everyone thanking Toriel before digging in. Holly cut herself a piece from her stack of fluffy pancakes, dabbing it in a syrup puddle.

The flavor was phenomenal. It tasted like really good restaurant pancakes, but something about these… They were light, sweet, and fluffy, like a pancake should be, but it was almost like they were amplified to be the best that a pancake _could_ be. Often her own cooking would end up making them a little tough, or burnt here or there, or the syrup would be too sweet. Little imperfections that made it home cooking. But Toriel's pancakes… Holly eyed her stack with renewed hunger, her mouth salivating.

"Oh my God, Toriel," she said. "How did you make these? They're the best pancakes I've ever put in my mouth." She began cutting herself another bite as Toriel blushed, her nose and ears turning a dark pink. "Oh goodness, you're so sweet," she tittered, looking pleased. "I don't do anything special," she insisted, but Frisk began gushing in her place.

"She uses her fire magic!" Frisk explained. "Most people just turn on the stove using electricity or gas or something, but Mom uses her own magic. It makes everything taste so much better," they stated proudly. Toriel's paw came to her face as she smiled.

"Oh, Frisk, stop it," she laughed.

"Magic in general has a way of makin' everything taste better," Sans piped up. "Tori's is just top-notch magic, 'specially for this kind of thing. Though Grillbz might give ya a run for your money," he winked at Toriel, who poked him with her fork. Holly looked over to see his plate was empty already—wait, how did Sans eat? He never opened his mouth, right?

But a more pressing question came to her mind. "Wait, you guys put magic in all your food?" Holly asked curiously. She saw Toriel look at her nervously.

"Yes, we do," the white monster confirmed, watching Holly's reaction. "It gives our food certain qualities. One of which is a therapeutic side effect," she explained.

"It can heal cuts and bruises and stuff!" Frisk said. Holly's mouth dropped open.

"Seriously?"

"Well, not only that. It can also help a soul to heal directly," Toriel continued. "Which was why I insisted that everyone eat a little when they came over last night."

"So let me get this straight." Holly waved her fork of delicious pancake. "Monster food heals you physically and emotionally, and humans haven't jumped on that?"

Everyone fell silent, their eyes not meeting Holly's. Papyrus spoke up, his voice softer than usual.

"You are a very nice human, but others are not so excited about magic like you seem to be," he told her. Holly paused, lips pursed.

"Well. They're weird, then," she concluded, and dug into the rest of her pancakes. The mood at the table lightened instantly, everyone chatting about their lives. Holly caught Sans's eye, who gave her another one of his secret thumbs-ups.

* * *

Holly helped to take the dishes up to the kitchen when they were all finished, the atmosphere light for the time being. She realized that she was still in her pajamas and hadn't showered, though for some reason that hadn't bothered her much. She felt at home, here; all the monsters were like family. The thought made Holly pause as she rinsed a particularly sticky plate.

She hadn't known these people for long enough to think that way yet. Hell, she'd met Alphys and Undyne about a month or so ago, and she'd only known Sans and Papyrus for a day. She only just met Toriel and Frisk last night. She glanced into the living room, where Undyne was causing a ruckus as usual and giving Frisk noogies.

Holly already felt so attached to them. Was it because she'd been so lonely and desperate for friends? Or because she found people who could be like a real _family_ to her, instead of the broken one she'd come from? Sure, she had Michelle, who she loved dearly, but… Holly had felt so cold and empty some days, aching for someone to care about her. Longing for someone to care _for_ , besides her sister who lived so far away that it hurt.

"Holl?" Undyne's concerned voice filtered through her thoughts and she jumped before looking up at her. She was still taller than the tallest person she had ever met.

"Hey, Undyne," she smiled, but it faltered when Undyne frowned slightly.

"You doin' okay?" she asked in an uncharacteristically quiet tone. Holly raised her eyebrows.

"Shouldn't I be asking _you_ that, Undyne?" she admonished gently. The monster poked her forehead, right between the eyebrows where they'd been creasing.

"I asked first, dweeb."

"I'm—" Holly wanted to lie through her teeth and say yes, she was completely fine, but the way her friend was observing her said that she'd notice the falsehood right way. She sighed. "I _will_ be?" Undyne scowled and Holly elaborated. "It's not… a _normal_ occurrence for my friends to be attacked. I'm upset, but… all the people here are so supportive. I know I won't have to deal with it by myself." The thought spoken aloud made Holly feel very warm, and she couldn't help the small smile that came to her face.

Undyne ruffled her hair. "Yeah, I feel ya." Her eyes darted towards the living room. "Alphys woke up in the middle of the night and told me what happened."

Holly stopped fussing with the dishes and turned towards her friend more completely to give her undivided attention.

"She said that someone knocked at the door. She thought we were back early, that you walked up ahead of me." Undyne's voice had gone as flat as she could make it, though the growl still came through as she spoke. "When she opened the door, three humans in masks busted inside. They threw her aside and started trashin' our place, and one of 'em started kickin' her while she was down. She passed out before they left." Undyne's clenched so hard that her knuckles were a pale mint green.

"You don't have to talk about it," Holly said gently, touching her friend's arm. Undyne's muscles were clenched into a taut ball of energy.

"There wasn't much else anyway," Undyne choked out, trying to kep quiet. Holly noticed that she kept glancing towards the living room—she was trying to stay calm in front of Alphys.

"You and Alph are gonna be with me in my apartment. We'll talk to the owners about what happened, get things settled so we can split our rent instead. They probably have insurance for this kind of thing," Holly reassured. "We'll keep each other safe. None of us will be alone at any one time, and if we have to be alone we can just head to Toriel's or the brothers' places."

Undyne nodded, having collected herself. "Yeah, sounds like a plan. I wanna get revenge on them so bad, though, Holly," she growled, baring her teeth. Her one yellow eye burned, and Holly was reminded strongly of a dragon.

"Me too," she admitted quietly. Their eyes met in quiet understanding and the subject was dropped.

Undyne seemed to remember something and started rubbing the back of her neck. "Hey, I wanted to ask you a favor. I, uh… don't really wanna go back to our place right now. I was wondering if you'd go back and get our stuff for us."

Holly blinked. "Oh, sure! But… wouldn't someone have to drive me?" she asked, thinking. Papyrus could take her in his car, because she doubted Undyne wanted to leave Alphys anytime soon. To her surprise, Undyne laughed.

"Oh, nah I already asked Sans if he'd do his weird magic and teleport you guys back there."

Holly froze, confused. "He… he agreed to take me already?" she asked. She supposed he was doing it more as a favor to Undyne and just tolerating Holly's presence for his friends' sake.

"Yep," came his voice from the other side of the kitchen. Holly jumped and whirled around. "'Sup?" he asked, giving a little two-finger wave.

"You startled me!" she said, hand clutching her chest. After a moment, a thought occurred to her and she frowned up at Undyne. "Wait, if Sans is going there already, why doesn't he grab your stuff?"

"...Well, besides the face that he likes to do _nothing at all_ ," Undyne drawled, looking at him with distaste. "I don't want anyone alone over there. Even that lazy sack of bones," she finished, her gaze faraway.

Oh.

Holly put a hand on her friend's arm, but didn't say anything in response. She knew Undyne felt responsible for Alphys, and didn't want to be responsible for anyone else getting hurt. "Okay. I'm ready to go whenever. Just tell the others where I went, Undyne? I'm gonna get a shower while I'm home," she said.

"Sure thing." Undyne replied gruffly. "Just grab us an outfit. We've got showers here, and shoes. Alph needs somethin' comfy, so just grab her Mew Mew shirt and those shorts she wears all the time," Undyne listed. "And for me, just jeans and one of my muscle shirts." She always referred to her tank tops as this. Which was fair, because Undyne had an awful lot of muscle. "And uh, it's pretty banged up in there, just so you know." Holly reached forward and squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"You ready, then?" Sans asked when Undyne was done. Holly nodded. He stepped close to her and she stiffened with surprise. Up close, he was about the same height as she was. "Gotta be touchin' for me to take you through one of my shortcuts," he explained, a smirk apparent on his face.

She nodded, feeling slightly awkward about touching someone who was essentially still a stranger. Holly reached forward and grabbed a bit of the fabric bunched up around his elbow.

"Gotta grab a little tighter than that," he commented, voice dripping with amusement. She scowled at him. She wrapped her arm around his, her opposite hand hesitating before settling on grabbing the front of his zipped-up hoodie. He smelled like ketchup and salt.

Part of her couldn't help but feel excited as well as nervous. This was the first time she'd ever _teleported_ anywhere, but giving the intimidating skeleton her trust made her uneasy.

"Hold on," he said, and the air crackled with static. Then it was she plunged into ice-cold spring water—the air was knocked from her lungs. And she felt like she was suddenly falling, her stomach clenching as if she'd tipped back too far in a chair.

And, just like that, it was over. Her feet were on solid ground. She opened her eyes, glancing around her apartment that was lit by the sun filtering through her open blinds on the other side.

"You can let go of me now," came Sans's voice, and she realized that during the teleport, she'd clung to him for dear life. Her arm was wrapped all the way around his ribcage, her other one tightened over his elbow. He was very solid beneath the plush fabric of his hoodie.

She sprang away, stammering.

"S-sorry! That was, I was j-just, uh, sorry," she said. Sans chortled and she scowled, face heating up. "Hey! It was _scary_ ," she pouted, crossing her arms and turning away before he could make fun of her for the huge blush covering her face. "I-I'm going to take a shower. You stay _right there_ ," she snapped at him, pointing at her couch.

"Sure thing," he laughed. Holly puffed all the way down the hall, thoroughly irritated by the short skeleton man who insisted on embarrassing her.

Still, though—she'd just _teleported_. Holly wondered if she was the first human to do so, but then remembered Frisk, smiling. Sans probably had taken her through one of his little 'shorcuts'-they'd known each other too long not to. It was still fascinating, knowing that the skeleton had the power to just pop in almost anywhere he wanted instantaneously. _'Magic is amazing.'_

She enjoyed the heat of the water beating across her shoulders for a few extra minutes after she washed up in her shower, then stepped out to dry off. Just as she wrapped her hair up in a towel, she heard her phone begin ringing. Not just the normal ringtone, however; the familiar chorus of _'TURN DOWN FOR WHAT?!'_ reverberated loudly on the counter. Holly smiled brightly, fumbling through the pocket of her pajamas to get the phone out in time.

"Oh hi Mish! I haven't heard from you in forever!" she answered. Her sister's voice came back in a silly tone she reserved just for them.

"What up sis. It is I, your _seester_." Michelle changed back to her normal tone. "Hey, sorry I've been so busy lately, dealing with the landlord and all the paperwork has been a butt," she explained.

"No, no, it's fine!" Holly insisted. "I'm just really glad to hear from you. I was starting to get worried." Holly stuck the phone to her ear, holding it up with a shoulder while she did her after-shower routine of face cream and deodorant. "How's the move going? You got the furniture you need and all that?"

"Yeah I did! My boyfriend helped move everything in. Oh man, Holly, he's been great," she said, the gratefulness in her voice apparent. Holly grinned. She hadn't met her sister's boyfriend, but from everything she heard about him, he seemed to be making Michelle very happy, so she didn't have any complaints.

"Aw, that's great." She stuck her head out of the bathroom to make sure the coast was clear of any skeletons before dashing to her bedroom.

"So I heard you made some new friends! That's so awesome, I know you've been kinda bummed about that lately."

Holly's smile dropped. She'd temporarily forgotten the situation, but when reminded about her new friends, everything came back to the front of her mind-the reason she was back here in her apartment with Sans in her living room. She faltered, but forced her voice to be cheerful again. It wasn't as difficult as she thought it would be; she chalked it up to the fact that it was Michelle she was speaking to.

"Yeah, I was. But they're all really cool! You'd like them a lot." Holly shimmied into a pair of comfortable stretchy pants that she saved for her days off of work. "Two of them live here in the complex, I invited them in for tea. It was so awkward, I just shouted at them to come in," she said, laughing.

"Oh my God, you _would_ ," Michelle snorted. "How did they react?"

"Uh, well one was kinda suspicious of me and yelled at me and stormed out?" she answered, her voice going up an octave at the end. Her sister made an offended noise.

"Well, that's just rude! They could have just said 'no'," she grumped.

"It was, uh, certain circumstances. She'd been through some stuff with other people. It's… complicated. I'll show you later."

"Uhhh, okay? Show me what?"

Holly adjusted the shirt she put on after taking a pause from the phone to get it over her head. "Well, are you busy? Can you Skype in like, an hour or so?"

"I guess, yeah. Oooh are you gonna show me your new friends?" Michelle asked excitedly.

"Yeah! If that's okay with you," Holly said, knowing her sister would want to make herself presentable. Michelle liked having her makeup and hair done before meeting new people.

"That sounds awesome! I'll bring Miki," she said. Holly's eyebrows raised in surprise.

"You got the cat?"

"Yeah. Took a bit of fighting with Mom, _but I has hiiiiiim!_ " Her voice raised up to a tone reminiscent of speaking to a baby, and Holly knew she'd just picked up the cat. "He so cute, say hi!" There was a sound of shuffling, and then a whiny meow. "He says hi," Michelle clarified. Holly laughed.

"Hiiii, Miki. That's good, I was wondering if you were gonna be able to get him over there. Anyways, a friend of mine is waiting for me to go somewhere right now, so I'll talk to you in a bit! Go log into Skype and I'll meet you there."

"Mmkay, love you!"

Holly's smile was wide. "Love you too." She ended the call, feeling bittersweet. Her sister's call came at a bad moment, but perhaps she needed to hear Michelle's voice on a day like this. She smiled softly down at her phone for a moment before finishing up in the bedroom.

When she went back into the living room, she found Sans was lying on the couch with his arms crossed behind his head, eyes closed. One of them peeked open as she came in and regarded her with amusement. She noticed that his pupil-lights brightened when he was in a good mood.

"So we gonna get to meet your sister? That's cool," he commented. Holly frowned.

"It's not nice to eavesdrop," she said airily, trying not to look too annoyed. The skeleton's grin widened.

Holly grabbed a beat-up messenger bag after making sure it was empty, nodding at Sans. They walked up a small flight of stairs and made their way to Alphys's and Undyne's apartment, stopping in front of a door labeled 314. She drew a breath, steeling herself, and used the key Undyne gave her to unlock the door.

Even Undyne's warning couldn't have prepared her for what was inside.

Everything was purposefully toppled over and smashed. The television—a heavy, old model—was broken, the front glass caved in like it had been hit with a bat or a similar weapon. The couch was tipped onto its back, the cushions shredded. The coffee table was broken in half, the old noodle cups that had been sitting on top scattered. Their contents stained the beige carpet.

Every room had been hit. The kitchen was a mess of food and broken appliances all dumped onto the tile. The bathroom down the hall was littered with mirror shards; the shower curtain was ripped and torn down. Holly didn't say a word. Neither did Sans. The sheer destruction spoke volumes already.

They made their way into the bedroom, where all her friends' personal items had been strewn about roughly. Sans waited in the doorway while she went inside.

Holly turned off a part of her brain as she calmly picked through the clothing that had been tossed out of the dresser drawers. It didn't take long to find what she needed. She turned to leave, freezing when she saw a message on the wall above their bed, written in angry red paint:

" _ **Don't come back or you're dead."**_

She stared at it, feeling a sick, hot sensation sweeping through her belly. _How dare they_. How dare those awful, disgusting people do this? How dare they disregard the lives of other people just for their race? How could they hurt sweet Alphys, defenseless and completely unwilling to fight? Why would they force someone from their home who hadn't even done anything to them? _How could they_ —

"Hey."

She felt hot tears sliding down her face, her whole body trembled with rage and fear—

"Hey. Holly."

Her name made her look. Sans was right next to her, his eye lights flicking across her face with concern. She saw the tightness of his skeletal grin, and she knew he was angry, too.

"Let's get outta here."

She nodded, letting him grab onto her as they teleported back to Toriel's house.

* * *

 **A/N: I didn't get this one beta'd, unfortunately, so I apologize for any mistakes made! Also, I'm sorry I didn't respond to my reviewers last chapter, I have been a little busy. Be assured I greatly and deeply appreciate each comment and they make me very happy 3 I go back and read them over and over again for inspiration~**


	8. because trom-BONE

The sun was warm on her scales.

Her only eye burned when she looked at it, but she stared it down anyway, accepting its challenge. It was strange how the light spread across the horizon; it reminded her of melting butter on rice, the only dish she could cook without causing a fire in the kitchen. The soft yellows reminded her of Alphys's soft and kind soul, but the radiant red hues made her think of Asgore, too.

The kid was looking not at the sunrise, but at their faces, grinning. Undyne looked down at her, returning it.

"So ya got all of us to the surface. Nice one, squirt," she said gruffly. Frisk gave the tall warrior a hug, her small arms only reaching her thigh. Undyne reached down and patted Frisk's hair, frowning a little and wondering why the statement seemed to make something break behind the child's eyes.

* * *

There was the feeling of plunging through ice cold water again, and the falling sensation shocked Holly enough to come out her daze. A second later, her feet hit the pavement of a driveway; a red sports car was parked near them. They were back at Toriel's house.

Holly pulled away from Sans and wrapped her arms around herself, fingers digging into her own arms. She suddenly had deep misgivings about allowing Alphys and Undyne to continue living in the apartment complex after seeing that message written on the wall. She suspected the attackers chose the bedroom because it was the most personal room, and invading that space broke the feeling of security the most. The thought caused a violent tremor that shook her whole body.

Sans caught notice of this. He grabbed one of her hands and dragged it away from her arm to get her attention.

"Holly," he called. She shivered. The tears had stopped, but her face was still wet. "Holly, c'mon. Come back. We're at Toriel's," he said. His voice was firm and it made her focus on her current surroundings. She looked down at their hands, focusing on the touch instead of her own thoughts.

"Breathe, buddy."

She realized her breaths were choked and uneven, so she closed her eyes and focused on making them more rhythmic. After a minute of this she took one final deep breath and released it, feeling almost as if her upset was a physical thing she breathed out of her chest. She opened her eyes and glanced at Sans.

"Thanks," she told him finally. He dropped her hand.

"No big," he said, watching her again with a careful expression. "Ready to go in now?"

"Y…yeah. I think so," she muttered, wiping her face. They went inside.

As they headed in, Sans split off from her to go join the monsters that were chatting on the back porch, muttering a 'see ya later'. Holly frowned but let him go without comment, wondering if he felt awkward around her after what had just transpired. Even so, the brush off was a little cold… She made her own way to the living room.

Alphys was still on the couch, Undyne right next to her. The pair of them seemed to be fairly unseparable; not that anyone could blame them. Holly handed them the clothes from the messenger bag, leaving her laptop inside.

"Here ya go, guys. I just picked out what Undyne asked for, but maybe later I could go to your place and grab more of your stuff to bring to mine," Holly said, giving them a smile. She felt Undyne scrutinize her expression, seeming to know that she wasn't as okay as she sounded. Thankfully, however, the fish monster didn't say anything in front of Alphys.

"O-oh, thanks Holly! And thank you so much for letting us stay at your p-place, Undyne told me that you invited us t-to stay," she stammered, her face grateful. Holly didn't miss the fidgeting claws.

"You're welcome."

Quiet fell between them. Holly studied Alphys, seeing the tenseness in her expressions, jumpiness, and rigid posture. Her tail had been curled around her body since she'd woken up here at Toriel's. Holly noticed after a few moments that Undyne was eyeing her, as if trying to confirm everything she was thinking about Alphys's mental state.

Holly took a deep breath. Later, when everything had settled, she'd spend a lot of time with her first monster friend. She was determined to make sure Alphys felt better, felt safe. She owed her that much for being so kind, and for being the first link to all the people who had so quickly taken to Holly like family. Maybe they could dance again… it seemed to be something monsters loved doing.

The idea took root more firmly in her head and she decided that, yes, dancing was a great idea—she'd even start practicing regularly. It would keep Alphys's mind off of things and the exercise would be good for them both anyway. If dancing brought them closer and made them all happy, then it was something Holly would definitely do. Feeling better about having a goal in mind, she gave the two monsters a more genuine smile.

"We'll be okay," she said aloud. Undyne gave one of her huge, pointy grins. Alphys's smile was soft, but the lines between her brows smoothed somewhat.

Remembering that it had been some time since she'd talked to her sister on the phone, Holly grabbed her cell from her pocket and checked the time. Only fifty minutes had passed since then, which was surreal—she shook the thoughts from her head and called out to Toriel and the others, who were now playing cards on the back porch.

She saw Sans glance at her and she suddenly had the thought that maybe he'd purposefully left her alone to be with Undyne and Alphys for a few minutes. So, maybe he hadn't been cold, after all? She frowned, unsure what to make of it.

"Guys! Come inside for a minute!" she called. She saw Papyrus perk up and say something Frisk before getting out of his chair and making his way over, the others following close behind.

"Is there something the matter, child?" Toriel asked, and Holly shook her head.

"No, no! My sister called earlier and she wants to meet everyone on Skype!" Holly explained. Toriel looked confused for a moment, but Sans spoke up.

"It's the computer program where you can talk face-to-face, Tori," he said. She lit up with recognition.

"Oh! Well then," she said, turning to Holly with a big smile. "Of course we'd love to meet her."

"Awesome, hold on—"

Holly set her laptop up on the coffee table, booting up Skype. She got the wi-fi password from Frisk and logged in; Michelle was already online and waiting.

 _11:54AM Holly: hey everybody's here! You ready?_

 _11:54AM Michelle: yeah go ahead and call, I got the cat too :D_

She looked around at everyone and waved them over towards her. They gathered behind and around the couch, Papyrus and Toriel both tall enough to have to bend down when Holly showed them the camera. Undyne and Alphys took either side of their human friend, allowing her to be in the center.

Holly grinned and hit the video call button, hearing the familiar ringtone specific to Skype. Michelle picked up two rings in, her oval face filling the screen.

Her hair had gotten a lot longer since the last time Holly had seen her. The thought made her eyes mist over but she couldn't put a finger on why.

As expected, Michelle had immaculate makeup that accented her face and eyes. Her hair was loose, but carefully brushed and pulled over one shoulder in a casual beachy wave that Holly knew she'd spent hours on that morning. She wore a pastel pink sweatshirt, and squirming in her arms was a fat, sandy-striped tomcat, his ears flattened in clear annoyance.

"Hi Mish!" Holly said, waving. She saw her own face in a tiny window beside her sister's, reflecting a big, toothy smile. It was the only time Holly ever saw her own real smile and it always caught her a little off-guard.

"Hey Holl…" Michelle began, pausing when she saw everyone. Her eyes got wide. "Monsters?" she said aloud, gaping, before she clapped a hand over her mouth apologetically. "Uh, I mean, I'm so sorry, I've just never—"

"Hey, it's cool," Undyne piped up, shoving Holly aside to fill the screen with her face. "We ARE pretty terrifying!" She gave one of her toothy grins, yellow eye flashing.

"Undyne! Honestly, I'm sure it is just a little unnerving when she has never seen a monster before," Toriel interrupted, putting a large paw on Holly's shoulder so she could lean down better. She gave a gentle smile. "Hello, Michelle, is it? I am Toriel. This is my child, Frisk." The boss monster gestured towards the teenager, who wiggled in place with a grin.

"HELLO NEW HUMAN! I am THE GREAT PAPYRUS!"

"I'm Undyne! Your sister won't shut up about you!"

"Undyne, oh my god," Holly protested, blushing through her silly grin.

"I-I'm Alphys, um, and sh-she really does talk about you a lot."

"Noooo Alph not you _too_ …"

"The name's Sans. Sans the skeleton."

"I, uh. I gathered that much," Michelle retorted to the last introduction, though she was smiling now. "I'm Michelle, but I guess you guys already knew that. And this is Miki!" She held up the cat by his flabby little arms and wiggled him around. He whined in protest.

Holly laughed, and for a moment she forgot how upset she was less than an hour ago. "Oh my god so I didn't tell you the whole story behind how me and these two nerds met—"

"OI! WHO YOU CALLIN' A NERD! That's my nickname for you guys!" Undyne went for a noogie and Holly ducked out of the way, screeching with laughter.

They spent an hour on Skype, in which Toriel and Frisk left to run errands and stories were told through gales of laughter. Holly explained the importance of dancing to monsters with the help of Alphys, who seemed to be feeling a bit better, at which Michelle expressed her jealousy.

"Man, that sounds so fun! Monsters and magic and dancing… I wanna dance with you guys," she pouted. Papyrus, who had been interjecting with stories and comments, spoke up.

"Nyeh, well, human-sister! I shall have to give you a proper monster dance when you come for a visit on the not-Internet!" he stated importantly. Michelle lit up.

"Oooh yeah that'd be fun! What's your dance, Papyrus?"

Holly turned to look at the tall skeleton, too, curious to know what the languid movements were from his sparring with Undyne.

"Nyeh-heh-heh! That's a secret until you get here, human! The Great Papyrus doesn't share his secrets with just anyone, you know," he told her, putting a hand on his puffed-out chest. He seemed to like the attention.

"Awww, well what's yours, then, _Sans the skeleton?"_ she asked the shorter brother, who had found a seat on the arm of the couch. He shrugged.

"Eh, I don't dance anymore," he said casually. Holly looked at him, surprised.

"What, really? I thought all monsters did?"

"Nah. Too lazy," he said with one of his skeleton winks.

"That's my brother for you. Always lazy! No wonder you always depend on me to take care of you," Papyrus sighed in exasperated affection, but there was a flicker of sadness in his expression. Holly's brows furrowed.

Sans raised his shoulders in a shrug. "You got me, bro."

There was a windy rush of static as Michelle sighed. "Well... I need to head out. I actually have some stuff to move into my new place, still," she said with a tone of slight dread.

"Aww, okay. It was really fun to talk to you, Mish," Holly told her.

"You too, Holl! We'll talk again soon, hopefully," she replied. Holly ended the call, a fond smile tugging the corners of her mouth.

Seeing her sister was always a joy, but there was something bittersweet in not being able to wrap her arms around her, cuddle up and watch movies together with homemade hot chocolate in their favorite mugs, catch the scent of her sister's perfume of the month. Holly missed having someone to lay awake all hours of the night, talking about anything and everything, never running out of anything to say… She missed having someone who knew her worst secrets and loved her anyway, someone who knew just what to say to make her laugh, to piss her off immediately, to make her feel better on her worst days—

"HUMAN!" Papyrus shouted suddenly from behind them, making everyone but Sans jump in surprise. "I feel that now is a good time for you to have a formal dance with me, The Great Papyrus!"

Holly's eyebrows both shot up in surprise. He'd somehow produced a rose and was brandishing it dramatically. "Uh… right _now_ , Papyrus?"

"What reason have I to wait?! You have been a good friend to Undyne-who is an excellent judge of character, though not as good as I am! So I invite you, Miss Holly, to be my dancing partner," he said importantly, puffing and placing a hand over his sternum.

Holly couldn't help but grin at his grand words. Clearing her throat, she stood up and stretched out a hand. "But of course, Papyrus the Handsome and Just," she began, and Papyrus's face suddenly lit up with orange. "This humble human would be honored to have this dance with you. But um," her voice dropped to be a bit quieter. "I'm not really sure how to dance very well."

"Have no fear, human! I will teach you," he assured her, taking her hand. He bowed, still holding it, and Holly followed suit with a clumsy approximation of a curtsy.

"SANS!"

"Yeah, bro, I gotcha covered," Sans said before Papyrus said anything. To Holly's extreme bewilderment, he was clutching a trombone. He put it to his teeth and did a few test notes. The image was absurd, to say the least—a skeleton man holding her hand and acting like an over-the-top gentleman, wearing battle armor and holding a rose, and another skeleton man in fuzzy slippers playing a trombone through his teeth.

' _Monsters,'_ she thought with both exasperation and fondness. She laughed as Sans began to play, Papyrus dragging her against him in ballroom dancing formation.

She stepped on his feet countless times, but Papyrus was a surprisingly graceful and earnest dancer. The outfit he wore accentuated his long limbs that swept and moved around Holly, acting like a frame to show her off while simultaneously being flashy and showy himself. His hips and shoulders moved with fluidity; it was mesmerizing to watch him, though Holly didn't have much of a chance to do so. Soon she caught on to the simple rhythm at the base of the dance, and after a few minutes of awkward movement, she figured out that it was best to let Papyrus lead her in the dance.

It suited him; this sort of dance seemed showy at first, focusing all on himself, but when you really looked at it, the dance helped support and showcase the dancing partner just as often. Holly thought about how he spoke so highly of himself and how proud he was of his accomplishments. She thought of how he thought of everything as important, how he made up for his doubts with grand words that bolstered his confidence. And she was also reminded of how deeply he cared for the ones he loved; how he fussed over his brother, how he looked up to Undyne and tried to impress her, how he always seemed to be loud and in-your-face right when you were feeling down.

He twirled her, snapping her to a stop. Holly's shirt flirted at her belly when she changed directions and she started feeling herself get really into it. Latin dancing made her feel pretty and graceful, somehow, and she could see why Papyrus liked dancing it himself. Her heart pounded in her chest with the effort of all the broad movements, and a moment later she felt the now-familiar warmth in her chest. Her soul resonated, the violet light seeming brighter than it had with even Undyne, and she saw a mirthful orange color surround Papyrus.

"Nyeh heh heh!" he laughed, the sound so genuine and happy that Holly felt a huge rush of affection towards the skeleton. He was like a second sibling, someone she could care for, someone she could rely on. She smiled back up at him happily, and there was a big flash of light in which she clearly saw two heart-shaped lights glow intensely. Flashes of feeling—pride, love, unbridled joy—they beat against her mind like strong ocean waves, ebbing rapidly as their movements slowed.

They stopped, Holly having been somewhat startled by the feeling. It was far more intense than with Undyne or Alphys; she suspected it had something to do with Papyrus's matching intense personality.

The tall skeleton was beaming. "That was amazing, Papyrus," she said simply. The orange blush came back to his face, but he seemed pleased.

"Yeahhh you guys were GREAT!" Undyne shouted, grabbing both of them in a big bear hug. Papyrus's eyes bugged out and Holly felt her spine crack in a few places.

"Breathing would be nice, Undyne," Holly wheezed, and the monster dropped them with a scoff.

"Aw don't be such a weenie," she said, but her face was split in half with a giant, pointy grin. The moment was perfect; Holly didn't think she'd been this happy in a very long time. She smiled at her new friends fondly, when a thought came to her. She froze, turning her eyes suspiciously to Sans.

"The trombone is a pun, isn't it."

He turned his eyes away, shrugging, but his smile made his eyes crinkle.

"SANS, DON'T—"

" _Tibia_ honest, I didn't think you'd catch onto that."

"SANS!"

* * *

 **A/N: I'm making it a bad habit of posting these last minute without beta readers. Sorryyyyy. This chapter is sort of short, too, but hopefully you enjoyed its contents~**


	9. Weeaboo Debate

Sans had no idea what to make of her.

He hitched a leg up closer to himself and leaned on his knee, flicking the excess ash from a cigarette wedged between two fingers. It was a bad habit, he knew, but it wasn't like it was bad for a monster with no lungs. Just another skeleton perk, he guessed.

Holly was kind, like Frisk chose to be—in some timelines, at least. The new human showed genuine concern for her monster friends. She came to smooth things over with him even after he'd shown hostility towards her. She damn near had a _panic attack_ when she realized how close Alphys had come to death. Sans believed the sincerity of her feelings—he even felt the smallest amount of concern for her.

He wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt, he really did. His nature was inherently kind, even if years of living in unspeakably horrible timelines had hardened him, made him paranoid, kept him from being completely happy on the surface. He wanted to believe that she wouldn't snap at one point, or make one choice out of curiosity like Frisk had, that ended with someone he loved becoming a pile of dust. But it was so hard.

Nearly impossible to trust someone who had EXP like that, really.

* * *

"Is it all right if I put the receipt in the bag?"

The elderly woman scowled and snapped her fingers before turning her hand palm-up. "Ugh, no! Just give it to me."

Holly did so with a jovial smile. She was used to this sort of attitude from customers so it didn't really phase her anymore. "You have a good day, ma'am!"

The old woman snatched her bag of clearance clothing and muttered to herself before shuffling off. Holly took a breath and stopped for a sip of her water bottle before the next customer plopped all of their items on the register.

"Hi there, did you find everything you needed today, sir?"

The day dragged on like this—the same as it was every day. Her manager came by to _gently remind_ her to make sure to fill in online orders, though being by herself at a register with a huge line really hadn't given her any time to do anything about the backlog. She'd have to rush them at the end of her shift, as usual.

A co-worker showed up for their shift, allowing Holly to go to her lunch break. She didn't hesitate to clock out, zooming over to the break room and avoiding eye contact with any customers who would ask for help with their shopping.

She meandered in, eyeing a seat and putting her phone at the table to lay claim to the spot before buying herself a soda as she did every day. She tugged her phone from her pocket, checking her e-mails and messages. A broad smile came to her face when she saw that she had several, mostly from Papyrus. He had insisted on getting her number before she'd gone home last night.

 _9:34AM The Great Papyrus: Hello! I hope you're having a good day at work!_

 _9:36AM The Great Papyrus: Sans said you would probably have your phone's volume turned down, so you would not get in trouble if I sent you messages!_

Holly had to smile. She could practically hear his voice in her head while reading his texts.

 _10:04AM The Great Papyrus: I enjoyed our dance very much, we should do it again sometime._

 _10:05AM The Great Papyrus: Frisk and I dance quite often, actually! And we are what Undyne calls "besties". Though I think out of everyone, Undyne and I have been besties longest!_

 _10:06AM The Great Papyrus: But the point is that our friendship would benefit from more dancing._

There were lines and lines of texts like these, all of them detailing his day. At some point he even sent a selfie with Sans snoozing on the couch in the background. _'My brother napping like a babybones!'_ was the caption. She had to admit, Sans looked much more relaxed like that. It was satisfying to see a side of him that wasn't always so alert.

Holly's tedious day felt much brighter after having read all of his messages. Though, to her surprise, he wasn't the only skeleton to leave her texts.

 _11:21AM Unknown Number: heya_

 _11:21AM Unknown Number: it's sans, got your number from paps_

 _11:22AM Unknown Number: just in case_

The happiness dimmed a little at this. Right, two nights ago had proved that it was very much necessary to have everyone's numbers for any emergency that may arise. She saved his number on her phone, seeing he left her a few more messages.

 _11:30AM Sans: you feeling ok_

 _11:30AM Sans: the apt was pretty bad yesterday_

Holly blinked. Sans was concerned about her well-being? She considered it for a moment—it did make sense. He seemed to take care of everyone else before himself; she guessed it was extended to her now, as well. She tapped on the 'reply' box.

 _12:45PM Holly: Yeah, I'm fine now_

 _12:45PM Holly: Thanks to your brother mostly lol, he keeps sending me texts and pics_

The reply was almost immediate.

 _12:46PM Sans: yeah he does that. he's pretty cool_

 _12:46PM Holly: Mhmm_

 _12:47PM Holly: Thanks for asking though, I appreciate it_

 _12:47PM Sans: yeah no prob_

Paired with Papyrus's cheerful messages, Sans's concern boosted Holly's morale—at least for a while.

* * *

Holly's shift ended (she didn't need to close today, thank the stars above) and she drove home, pondering the situation of Undyne's and Alphys's residence. Undyne had seemed very reluctant to go back to the complex, and Holly really couldn't blame her. After reading the message on their bedroom wall, she wondered if the people responsible would come after them if they were seen anywhere near the complex. This wasn't outright discussed yet with her friends, but Holly would need to speak with the proper people at the apartment offices about the damage done and the rent and living situation.

She kicked her shoes off as soon as she opened her door and worked her hands around to unhook her bra from underneath her shirt. Holly groaned with relief as soon as the stupid thing was flung somewhere across her living room and she flopped onto her couch, taking her phone out to check her messages. All of them were from Papyrus, which made her smile. She texted him to let him know she was home, but frowned when she realized that there weren't any messages from Undyne or Alphys.

Normally Alphys texted Holly a few times during the day, and sometimes Undyne would make some comment about her day. Today must have been stressful for them both, so they neglected to leave their human friend any messages.

Yes, that's probably what it was.

Holly dropped her phone unceremoniously on the coffee table. Would her friends even be okay staying with her at the apartment? It wasn't like she thought it was a good idea anymore after having seen the message left for them—she hadn't managed to talk to Undyne about that particular detail yet—but a voice in her head wouldn't stop telling her that they didn't _want_ to stay with her. Of course they preferred older friends to her.

She stood up, rubbing her arms with her hands out of habit, and sat at her kitchen table. Her laptop whirred to life from hibernation as she opened it, the startup sound inaudible since a pair of large headphones was connected to the audio port. Holly tucked her hair behind her ears and put them on before choosing a specific playlist, and then she shuffled the electronics around so a large drawing tablet sat before the keys of the laptop. She flexed her right wrist a few times before gripping the tablet pen, opening up her favorite digital painting program.

The lines flowed across the digital canvas in light, loose waves, aimless for now until they formed something familiar. Holly fell into focus, turning the music up until it blared in her ears and filled her mind until she couldn't hear the buzzing of her own thoughts. Angry teeth and accusing eyes filled her screen, with dark arcs against sharp angles.

When the canvas was darkened and filled completely with sketches and rough paintings, she finally fell back against the chair, twisting her wrist until it cracked to her satisfaction. She expelled air that gathered darkly in her lungs and she closed her eyes, falling into the pounding music in her ears, and let herself _feel_.

She allowed herself honesty within the confines of her own mind.

She let herself think about what she would have done if Alphys had died while she and Undyne were gone. She let herself imagine that Michelle avoided speaking to her on purpose, angry that Holly had left her behind when she moved here. She thought about her lack of a certain future, and wondered what it would be like if all she ever did was work in jobs that made her miserable. She wondered if Undyne secretly thought like Sans did, suspicious of all humans enough to wonder if Holly was partly to blame for their suddenly upended lives. Holly thought of every worst case scenario and let herself be moved by it all, the tears leaving trails of mascara down her face. She could feel it burning her eyes.

She stayed like that for a little over an hour. Deciding she'd had her fill of misery, she wiped futilely at her face and took off the headphones. Her stomach growled and she blinked in surprise, remembering that it had been hours since she'd eaten.

Trudging into the kitchen took far more effort than it should have. Holly was about to just have coffee for dinner when her phone began ringing from the table.

"Alphys, hey," she answered, recognizing the cutesy anime ringtone.

"H-hey Holly, um… how was your day at work?" the monster asked.

"It was all right. Papyrus kept texting me all day," Holly laughed, privately relieved that her voice lacked any of the negative emotion she'd been feeling earlier.

"Oh, y-yeah, he, uh… he does that." Her voice seemed to get smaller and distant. "Holly… me and Undyne were talking, a-and. Well, sh-she said that maybe it would be a better idea if we, um. Stayed here at either Toriel's or Papyrus's?"

Holly stubbornly refused to acknowledge the feeling of lead in her stomach. "Yeah? That's probably a better idea, it's likely a lot safer," she said reassuringly.

"Y-yeah," Alphys agreed quickly, sounding relieved. "Undyne said she saw… something in our apartment, like a m-message. That those, um. People left. She said it's dangerous to be seen back over there."

"Of course, that's fine. Your safety is the most important thing." Holly _wouldn't_ feel upset about this. They were being safe. They were most _definitely_ not choosing to stay over there because they disliked her. But if Undyne had seen that message, why hadn't she said so earlier? Maybe she was grateful that Holly had offered, even if she wasn't going to take her up on it.

' _Or she was trying to be polite in front of the others._ Humans _did this to them, of course she wouldn't want to stay with one.'_

"Thanks, Holly, I… w-we want to come stay with you, it would be much easier," she sighed. "Undyne j-just feels really protective right now. Sh-she can't even leave me alone for one day, ha ha…"

Holly felt as if someone squeezed her heart. Immediately, all of her selfish concerns were abandoned in the face of her friend's self-loathing. "Oh, Alphys, don't you start acting as if this was your fault."

She heard the dinosaur monster sniffle. "I-if I w-was just, stronger! Our home would b-be okay and I wouldn't have to rely on Undyne s-so much!"

"Alph. Stop."

"They always go after me and sh-she's always the one _protecting_ me! I can only stand there, I-I'm so useless—"

"Alphys!" Holly growled. The monster sniffed and fell silent. Holly took in a deep breath and let it out. "I'm coming over. Don't argue!" she interrupted before Alphys could say anything. "Prepare yourself for a marathon of anime. Tell Undyne, too, okay?" she said, her voice softening at the end. Alphys let out a choked giggle.

"O-okay. But, actually, I think Papyrus is coming to get you? He w-wouldn't stop talking about your dance," she said, her voice bouncing back slightly. Holly paused, caught by surprise.

"Really? I didn't even do much of anything, even!" she protested.

"W-well you learned really fast though! You did with Undyne and me, too," Alphys told her.

"I did? I felt like I was just fumbling and stepping on everyone's feet!"

"No, no! You're not, um, monster-level yet, but you're learning!" Alphys reassured her, sounding more and more like her usual self. Holly smiled to herself, glad that her idea of dancing more often seemed to be a good idea to cheer up her friend.

"Well I'll have to keep learning so I get to be pro. Maybe I'll even get Sans to tell me what his dance is," she laughed, but Alphys had gone quiet on the other end.

"O-oh. Sans… he used to dance all the time, but…" she trailed off. Holly got the distinct impression that she was uncomfortable. "Um, I know you don't know everything about d-dancing and monster souls, but. It's connected to our well-being. Th-the more we do it, the better off our souls are," Alphys explained. "…I want to say more b-but. I think it might be rude to say anymore, I d-don't want to share anything that might be considered p-personal to Sans."

"…Huh. Well, all right," Holly agreed, though now she was burning to know more. So if Sans didn't dance anymore, did that mean he was unhealthy somehow? Or, more accurately, that his _soul_ was unhealthy? She knew Sans was protective and had a good ability to deflect unwanted questions. Other than that, Holly realized she didn't know much about the shorter of the skeleton brothers at all.

A knock on the door interrupted their conversation. "Oh, that'll be Papyrus! You gave him my address?" she asked Alphys.

"Haha, yeah. W-wait! Just, um. Make sure it's him before opening the door," Alphys said, her voice cracking. "Um. Please."

Holly felt her gut clench. "I will, Alph. See you in a bit."

* * *

After getting Papyrus to wait for a few minutes so she could get changed and grab her things (including Mew Mew Kissy Cutie and her laptop for Netflix purposes), they headed downstairs to his car. Now that she actually looked at it, the car seemed to be really nice—a hot red convertible, not a scratch on it. She wondered where they got the money for it, since their home didn't exactly scream "high income".

"Papyrus, I just have to ask—when did you get this car? It's… well, it's pretty awesome," she admitted, running her hand along the door handle as she hopped in. The skeleton seemed to puff up with pride as he put on a pair of shades (she really wondered how he could wear glasses without ears to hold them up, to which the answer was probably "magic").

"Sans took all the gold we had from the Underground and traded it for human currency! He kept some of it a secret and surprised me with my dream car after I got my license," he explained as they drove. For such an excitable person, he was actually a very responsible driver. Holly was glad—as much as she loved Undyne, the fish lady could be aggressive on the road.

"That was nice of him," she said, smiling. Papyrus glanced over for a moment, returning the expression. His trademark scarf billowed in the wind, but his battle body had been traded out for a button-up shirt and a pair of skinny jeans. Holly guessed that all of his clothes must have been tailored, since he was so tall and literally skeleton-thin.

"My brother is the coolest," he replied. "He does a lot of kind things that he thinks I do not notice, but as a good brother, of course I notice!" Holly looked over at him, mild surprise on her features. Papyrus caught the look and laughed. "Nyeh heh heh, The Great Papyrus is more wily than you thought! Though, don't tell him I said he was the coolest. He gets sentimental about these things, and then he makes a lot of bad jokes." A look of long-suffering crossed his features. "So, so many bad jokes."

Holly couldn't help herself. She was still an annoying older sister, after all. "So, would you say he gets SANS-timental?" she teased, poking her tongue between her teeth at him.

"HOLLY NO!"

She cackled like a mad scientist all the way to Toriel's house, torturing him with all the horrible puns she could think of.

* * *

"This is one intense cartoon."

"Shut up, Sans, this is a good part!"

Holly, Alphys, and Undyne were huddled close on the couch, all of them trying to see the small laptop screen. They'd opted to watch anime on Holly's Crunchyroll account. Undyne was freaking out over one of the characters using a special ability that involved a demon vacuum that ate up all evidence of any dead bodies, making it seem as if an entire hall full of people had simply vanished.

Sans was hovering over the back of the couch, at first having started to watch to poke fun at it. Holly could tell he was into it now, though, as his jabs were getting half-hearted and less frequent. She smirked to herself, wondering if she could get more people into anime. Undyne and Alphys were a bit intense about being fans, but it wasn't as if they had no reason to be—a lot of anime was extremely good.

"Dinner's nearly ready," Toriel called from the kitchen, where she'd been bustling for most of the evening. Papyrus was helping under Frisk's careful supervision, to make sure Undyne's influence didn't cause another house fire.

"Episode's almost over," Holly called back, half-listening.

"OHHHH MAN!" Undyne leapt up, nearly knocking the computer off of Holly's lap. One of the main characters had caught wind of the presence of the evil troupe causing havoc—a character who had a personal vendetta against them. His eyes were glowing red with rage as he swore to go after them. The episode came to a close right after that and Undyne was bouncing with energy.

"Oh my god did you see that?! HE'S GONNA KICK THEIR ASSES!" she cackled.

"Undyne! Language!" Toriel called sharply from the other room. Undyne's ear-fins lowered a bit.

"Uhhh, sorry," she said, only slightly abashed. "Put on the next episode! I gotta know what happens!" she demanded, looking at Holly with demented enthusiasm.

"We gotta eat dinner, Undyne!" Holly said, laughing at her earnestness.

"Oh that's easy for _you_ , Holly!" Alphys pouted. "You've seen the next episode!" Her stutter was momentarily forgotten in the face of anime; she did this when she wasn't paying attention to her self-confidence issues. "Though I wonder what types of abilities those characters had. Are they really that strong? I mean, there have to be some people around who have abilities to match at least one at a time—"

"Yeah! Though I bet the main four are gonna be the ones to beat 'em up," Undyne added. Behind them, Sans made a quiet scoffing noise. The fish monster whipped around to face him. Holly got a face full of fiery hair. "What, you got somethin' to say, shorty?!"

Sans shrugged. "Two of the main characters are _kids_ , they ain't gonna beat troupe members who have had years of training in their particular area of expertise."

"But the tactical know -how paired with raw ability and power, I bet they could take at least one of them out—" Alphys shot back, and suddenly there was a three-way debate of speculation. Holly just sat back and grinned. Ah, to be the cause of such intense havoc. It was oddly satisfying.

"Dinner's ready!" Frisk called, and Holly got up to help put the silverware out on the dining room table. The three arguing monsters brought their debate to the table, though it seemed that Sans was finding it to be too much effort to do much of it anymore.

"You three! It's time for dinner with the rest of us," Toriel scolded, though her eyes were sparkling with mirth.

"This looks good, what is this?" Holly asked, looking down at her plate. It appeared to be a mix of diced and sautéed vegetables with some kind of creamy red sauce covering them.

"Oh, just a healthy dinner, since it seems _some_ of you are determined to eat the same things every night if I don't cook," she accused, giving several of the seated monsters a glance.

"Hey now, Grillbz's food helps put meat on these _bones_ ," Sans argued. Toriel tried to hold in a chuckle but it came out as a snort, and she promptly blushed while covering her mouth with a white paw.

"Oh goodness, how impolite," she said.

"Toriel, you're too adorable," Holly commented, laughing. The monster was about to retort when Holly's phone began ringing, though it was the generic tone. She fumbled to get it out of her pocket, apologizing for the rude interruption.

"Ah, I don't know this number, it might be someone from work," she said. "I'll take it outside." She hit the 'answer' button before the ringing stopped. "Hello?"

She was halfway to standing up out of her chair when the voice on the other end of the line made her freeze. "So, you won't answer the phone when you know it's me, but you'll answer for a stranger?" The voice was accusatory, sharp, and ran right up Holly's spine.

It was her mother.

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks to Akinai_Sere on Ao3 for being my beta!**


	10. Uneasy Relations

Holly's face showed a fleeting moment of panic before she collected herself, aware that all the monsters at the table were curiously watching her. She forced her face to something more neutral and pressed the phone closer to her ear to keep the sounds from leaking out of the speaker.

"I'll be right back," she told the others. Toriel gave her a worried look that Holly ignored, hurriedly making her way to the back porch and closing the sliding door. Her mother was already yelling in that grating tone that was so familiar to her; she had a suspicion that she was doing that because she'd heard Holly speaking to someone.

"Why haven't you called me, Holly?! Your own _mother_ , sitting here worried—"

"I told you not to call this number," Holly interrupted icily. Her body was rigid; she thought about sitting down, but opted for pacing instead. The reminder that her mother had so much power over her emotions only further drove her into a foul mood.

The whiny toddler-voice dropped down into a scathing tone. "Oh, my own two children leave me without a glance backward and I'm not allowed to try and find you? You're such a selfish bitch."

Ah, there it was. When she thought she was alone with her daughters, she could be true to her nasty nature.

"Did it ever occur to you that hunting me down through distant Internet friends and my forum accounts would be considered stalking?" Holly seethed. She should hang up. Talking sense into this woman never worked, but she was compelled to try anyway for some stupid reason. She hated how her own voice wavered. Memories, unwanted, came to mind—police trying to determine whether she should be Baker Acted, hemming and hawing for weeks over important paperwork she needed for insurance, her sister being used as a pawn to guilt her into doing things…

"Holly, honey," her mother crooned, picking up on the tear-filled voice. "I'm your _mom_ , of course I need to find you. I need to know where you are and what you're doing, it's what moms do!" God, it was horrible when she tried to prey on guilt.

Holly snorted. "Yes, so you can _control_ me, and every piece of my life. You know what, I'm not doing this. Don't call me again, _mother_."

"DON'T HANG UP ON ME, YOU LITTLE—"

 _Call ended._

Holly clutched her chest. This was horrible timing—the last thing she needed right now was to remember old guilt and fear and anger like fresh wounds, when she was just trying to recover from the recent events that had transpired at the apartments. Fortunately, though, this was a feeling she was very good at forcing back down until nobody saw a trace of it. Breathe, smile. Laugh a little, make a joke, enjoy everyone's company. Distract them with other things, worry about their problems before her own.

She pocketed the phone and turned to go inside, but was met with Toriel's gaze at the door.

"Ah, forgive me, child, I… I was concerned about you," she said, looking sheepish. Holly gave her a smile that didn't reach her eyes.

"Oh, it's all right. I uh, just had a call I needed to take care of."

"From your mother, correct?" Toriel confirmed softly. Holly's smile fell and her eyes dropped.

"Y-yeah. I didn't mean for you to hear that." Damn it, _damn it,_ _ **damn it!**_ Nobody was supposed to find out about her miserable little history, they would all start looking at her with pity in their gazes, start to distance themselves just like her other friends did. "Don't worry about it, it's nothing I can't handle!" Holly tried, but her assurance sounded more like a plea.

"My child," Toriel began firmly, and made her way closer to Holly. She put a huge white paw on her shoulder. Warmth seeped from the pads of her fingers. "I do not know what your situation is with your mother, but perhaps it is something you can work out?"

Holly tensed. _Oh, no._

"She is your mother, after all. Family is important."

Not this again.

"Perhaps she made mistakes with you in the past, but I am sure she misses you dearly. You should try to talk to her about it. I am sure she loves you very much," Toriel finished, attempting to be reassuring. Holly couldn't help the derisive snort.

"Not all blood relatives are family, Toriel," she snapped, surprised at the bitterness in her voice. "Some people care only about themselves." The paw left her shoulder.

"Perhaps she is a flawed person, but she is your _mother_ ," Toriel emphasized.

"Yeah, I got that," Holly retorted. Her face was flushing with anger and mortification. "I don't want to talk about this anymore. Can I just enjoy everyone's company? Please?"

The goat woman let her hands fall to her sides, looking helpless. "Yes. I am sorry if I upset you."

Holly closed her eyes and let out a long breath, willing her emotions under control again. Ugh, and a headache was forming right between her eyes. Great. "It's all right, I know you meant well. Can… can you keep this between us, please?" she asked the tall goat woman, who nodded.

"Of course. Though, you are more than welcome to come to me if you'd like to talk," Toriel offered, holding her hand out palm-upwards. A small smile tugged at the corners of the young woman's mouth. What did she do to deserve such kind people in her life? Some of them were nicer to her than friends she'd known for years.

It must be a monster thing.

She took the hand that was offered, feeling reassured by how large it was as it encompassed her own.

* * *

Halloween was right around the corner, and Holly couldn't help but feel excited. It would be her first one with friends for a few years, and this time there were literal monsters involved. How could she not feel hyped?

She took people at the register with more gusto than usual, signing return receipts with doodles of spiders and jack-o'-lanterns (one customer complained that they didn't condone Halloween so she opted for fall leaves instead at one point). The line was clear for once, so she began working on the fitting rooms and organizing the clothing by section when she caught movement at her register. She dropped what she was doing and walked over, grinning when she saw who it was.

"Well, hello, Papyrus! Hi, Sans!" she greeted, leaning on the other side of the register. The shorter skeleton was looking over her uniform, seeming curious.

"HI HUMAN! We were in the mall and Sans said you worked here! So we came to find you, though I wasn't sure which area you worked in," Papyrus said. "Your store has a lot of different sections! With a whole section for just socks!"

"Heh, yeah bro. It's for people like me who have sock collections," Sans added. Holly noticed he had a specific glint in his eye when he teased his brother.

"NOT EVERYONE IS AS WEIRD AS YOU! Anyways, Undyne and Alphys are here too! They went to one of those shops with the human history regalia to find Halloween costumes…" he trailed off, leaving Holly to look at Sans with questions in her eyes. He just shrugged. "We wanted to know what time you go on break! There are places to buy food here and we wanted you to come, too!"

"Aww, you guys!" Holly laughed, but sobered slightly when she saw a group of people trying to approach the register. They were looking at the skeleton brothers with undisguised nervousness. "Of course I'll come! My break is in about forty minutes and it'll be for an hour. Now, I need to do my job, so off you two go!"

"Of course! We will let you get back to work. Come on, Sans, I want to see if this store has what I need for my costume!"

"Yeah, okay bro. Seeya, Holls," Sans called, and gave the woman a wink before trailing after his brother. Holly's cheeks tinted at the nickname—she always felt a little extra special when someone came up with one for her. Though in Sans's case, it was probably laziness. She straightened up and gave the next customers a polite smile.

"Hello, did you find everything you need?"

"Um, yeah we did—were those _skeletons?_ "

Holly chuckled. "Yes, they were skeleton monsters. They're friends of mine, I apologize for the minor hold-up," she explained, taking their items and systematically ringing them up. A little girl, about six years old, looked up at the man with wide eyes.

"Dad! They were _real_ monsters! Real live monsters!" she enthused, jumping up and down with each emphasized word. She seemed to be in awe. "Daddy can we go say hi to them? Pleeeease?"

The man looked at Holly with a secretly sheepish expression. "Uh, honey, it's not polite to do something like that…"

"Oh, sir, I don't think they'd mind," she corrected, smiling. "Papyrus—the tall one—would actually love that. He really likes kids. And attention," she added, deciding it was best to be truthful. She glanced down at the little girl, then back up at the father. "Do you mind if I…?"

He seemed to be a little nervous, but shrugged. "Yeah, sure."

She came from behind the counter and gave the girl a pen and a piece of receipt paper. "Papyrus is a friend of mine. He used to be in training to be a _royal guardsman_ underground," she told the girl in a hushed voice. The kid's jaw dropped dramatically. "I bet he would love it if you asked for his autograph."

The girl nodded solemnly. "Okay." Her mood flipped like a switch as she grabbed the hem of her dad's shirt eagerly. "DAD, DAD, WE GOTTA CATCH UP TO 'EM!"

"Okay, sir, your total is on the screen. I've got everything bagged up for you," Holly finished, getting back behind the counter with a smile. The girl was still saying 'dad, dad, dad, dad' like a mantra as he hastily slid his card, looking grateful but exasperated.

"Thanks a lot. They're, uh. Safe, right?" he asked, avoiding her eyes. She knew it was hard for people to let go of appearances and trust something unknown to them—it was human nature to be skeptical. But the fact that this man would set that aside to give monsters a chance… it gave her hope that maybe the two races could live in peace, after all.

"Yes, I promise they are. Safer than most humans, really," she said quietly, meeting his gaze. He nodded, his face relaxing.

"Okay. Thanks again, uh…" he glanced at her nametag. "Holly. You're a real doll."

She blushed but laughed, waving as the pair of them rushed deeper within the store to find Papyrus and Sans.

* * *

"SHE KNEW MY NAME! AND ASKED ME FOR MY AUTOGRAPH!"

The tall skeleton was gushing, his bony hands cupping both his cheeks in something akin to modesty. Holly wasn't sure if Papyrus was capable of such a thing, but it was nice to see him so over the moon.

"You're just a popular guy, Papyrus," Holly laughed, to which the skeleton's face turned an interesting shade of orange.

"I—I'm popular? Wowie! Sans, I told you I'd be popular someday! I was just looking for the wrong audience."

"Good job, bro," Sans said, and Holly could see that his grin was relaxed but genuine. It was humanizing—or, she supposed— _monsterizing_ , to see him look so happy for his brother. It was a feeling she could relate to. He caught her looking at him, his pupils flicking over to her. He gave one of his customary thumbs-ups of approval and she couldn't help but give him a big smile.

"Holly, wait until you see our costumes," Undyne butted in, her eye glinting with excitement. "Alphys looks so cute in hers! Or, should I say, Alph-chan," she teased, and the short yellow monster beside her flushed brightly.

"Th-the senshi outfit looks so much cuter on you, though!" Alphys insisted, her claws fidgeting. Her face was turned up forcefully when Undyne smooshed it between two hands. The short monster's face was so cute that Holly almost _aww'd_ aloud; her cheeks mushed into the lines of her mouth, nose crinkled, glasses askew.

"No way, nerd! You're _way_ cuter!"

The two of them were so sweet, it could give someone a toothache. Holly turned to the brothers, letting her two friends gush over each other in relative privacy.

"I don't have anything as neat as a sailor-senshi costume, but I'm going as a leopard. I can do really good costume makeup, so I'm gonna go all out with it," Holly said, munching absently at the rest of her fries. They tasted really good with the spicy ranch dip she'd gotten to go with her chicken tenders. "I have a ton of leopard-print shirts, so I can use one of those. I still need to buy the ears somewhere…"

She glanced over at the taller skeleton. She always struck up conversations with Papyrus more easily than Sans; there was still a little bit of tension between them that was dissolving slowly. Plus, Papyrus was generally more talkative.

"Papyrus, what are you dressing up as?"

"I am trying to find an outfit that matches the culture behind my dance!" he said proudly. "I have been researching with Sans's help! And I found pictures of what I would like, but… it's proving difficult to find a good quality outfit."

"Oh? What's the outfit?" she asked curiously, wondering what he'd go with for a Latin-dancing culture.

"Well, it's more the music behind my dancing, but I saw something called a mari… mari… Sans, what was it called again?"

"Mariachi, bro."

"Yes, that!"

Holly raised her brows, interested. "Oh! That's a neat choice. You did research on the culture and everything?" she reiterated.

"Yep. I've been helpin' him out," Sans said. She detected a hint of pride in his tone.

"That's really cool. Did _you_ have an idea for an outfit, Sans?" she asked. He shifted in his seat.

"Uh, not yet. But Paps' outfit's gonna be super cool. I used to help him make outfits in the Underground all the time, heh," he said. Holly raised a brow, noticing the deflection, but didn't call him out on it.

"Yes he did! He helped to make my battle body," Papyrus said, giving his brother an appreciative look. Holly smiled at the two of them before she remembered that her break was nearly over. She jumped and checked her phone, mildly panicked, but calmed when she saw that she had just enough time left to get back.

"Ah, hate to cut it short, guys, but my break's over soon," she told them, gathering her plastic utensils and putting them on the food court tray.

"Aw, already! Well, you get to see my outfit later, then, punk," Undyne said, getting up and ruffling Holly's hair.

"Hey, easy! I can't look like a monster's been messing with my hair at work," Holly teased, and Undyne gave her a light shoulder punch. It still made her fingers tingle with numbness.

"Ha! Well, don't work too hard. See ya!" They all began to leave the food court, heading the opposite direction from Holly.

Sans lagged behind and snagged her shirt between his fingers when the rest of the group was walking away.

"Hey, I know it was you who sent that kid over," he said, giving her a soft look. "I just wanted to say thanks. It made Paps really happy."

Holly looked surprised for a second, then modest. "It was nothing. The little girl seemed excited to see a talking skeleton, which, I mean, who wouldn't be?" she laughed, but Sans's expression sobered.

"There aren't a lot of people like that out there. Most of 'em are afraid of us," he informed her, the fabric from her shirt falling from his hand.

Holly sighed. "Yes. An unfortunate human reaction to the unknown is fear," she told him. Her brow creased. "And fear leads to hatred. People just need to know that you're… well, all of you have been so kind," she finished, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear and smiling.

Sans was quiet for a moment. "Well, I just wanted to say thanks." There was an awkward quiet that fell between them, filled with the bustle of the busy mall. "Hey, can we talk? Later, when you're over at Toriel's place?" he asked, not quite meeting her eyes. She noticed that his grin had tightened. Wondering exactly what Sans wanted to talk about, she tilted her head at him curiously.

"Of course. What about?"

He shuffled, obviously uncomfortable. "I'll tell ya later. You better get back, or you'll clock in late," he reminded her, and shuffled off to catch up with the others.

Holly watched him go, confused. What would he have to talk about with her? He'd already (sort of) apologized for when he'd threatened her on their first meeting, and as far as she knew they were on okay terms now. As she walked back to work, she couldn't help but worry. Did she do something wrong? Did she say something offensive by accident? She wasn't sure how monster culture worked, but she didn't think she'd done anything bad… Did Alphys mention that they'd talked about his lack of dancing? Did Toriel talk to him about the phone call she'd overheard, despite her promise not to?

The thoughts whirled in her head as she worked, distracting her somewhat. Her smile wasn't quite as cheerful as from before lunch, and her mind only came up with more and more wild theories by the time she clocked out.

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks to Akinai_Sere for being my beta.**


	11. Understanding

**Content warning: Suicide mention**

* * *

"Hey, kiddo, whatcha doin' there?"

Frisk looked up from their work. They liked to sit out on the back porch, where there was natural light and fresh air and quiet. Sans pulled out a chair right next to them and flopped into it, like he always did with every piece of furniture he descended upon. They gave him a big grin.

"Homework for math class. How was the mall? Everything go okay?" they asked. It was common for people to throw nasty comments at monsters, though a crowded place like the mall usually kept them safe from actual attack.

"Yeah, actually. Got a few dirty looks, but a little kid asked for Papyrus's autograph. Bein' famous enough to be recognized, it got him all _star_ ry-eyed," Sans chuckled. Frisk shook their head admonishingly and rolled their eyes, but the smile pulling at their mouth was worth it. "You know who sent the kid over, though?"

Their shook their head, eyes wide with curiosity.

"Holly did. We said hi to her at her store, and this kid and her dad walked up…" He regaled Frisk with the happy story, his permanent grin a bit more genuine than usual. His hands were more animated than usual as he mimicked Papyrus's reaction to the human girl; when he finished, Frisk clapped their hands together and squealed.

"That's so nice! Holly's sweet… I think she has a soft spot for your bro, though," they giggled. "Maybe she has a _cruuuush_ on him," Frisk teased, winking and pointing their fingers at the short skeleton. Sans just shook his head and laughed.

"Not everyone's out to date everyone, ya flirt," he teased, ruffling their hair. He leaned back and tapped his fingers against the metal edge of the patio table, his grin falling into something more serious. "I got somethin' to talk to ya about, kid," he said. Frisk's eyes sharpened and they looked suddenly much older than fourteen. "Holly came over to our house a while back. Undyne brought her." He glanced over, and Frisk dipped their head for him to continue. "I figured if Undyne trusted a human enough to bring 'em to meet Papyrus, they're pro'ly all right. But I had to check, just to make sure." He leaned back in his chair, digging into a pants pocket to produce his pack of cigarettes. He tapped one out and sighed before continuing. "Holly's got EXP."

Frisk's face didn't change much, save for an eerie flatness behind their brown eyes. "So, Holly… she…"

"Killed someone, yeah," Sans finished, lighting his cigarette. "Seems to be only one, I think. She doesn't have very much."

Frisk winced and looked away. They weren't sure why Sans was telling them this, since they… no, that _entity_ —had betrayed him so many times. Perhaps because they still held on to the ability to reset, in case things went sour…

Frisk and Sans's relationship was strange. Sans trusted this part of them, the part that remained just Frisk, friend to monsters. But they could see the way he looked at them sometimes, like he was regarding a bug he very much wanted to squash. The teenager stayed quiet for a few minutes, chewing on their lip.

"So… what are you gonna do? Make her leave?"

His eyes had a faraway look to them. "I could do that. But I think it'd be better if I asked her about it first. Give her a chance to explain."

The teenager tilted their head at him. "Why'd you tell me about this?"

The skeleton shrugged and flicked ash off the end of his cigarette. "You're the only human I have to go to with this sorta thing."

Frisk rolled their eyes. "Monsters always have good intentions, even if they do bad stuff sometimes. Humans… aren't that simple." They frowned slightly with the effort of trying to explain. "There are a lot of Flow— _bad people_ out there who do things just for themselves, or because they like causing pain to others. But I don't think Holly is one of them."

Sans nodded, looking somewhat mollified. "I can live with that. For now."

* * *

Holly arrived at Toriel's at the same time as usual. But before she stepped onto the little stone pathway that led to Toriel's front door, Undyne rounded the corner, looking surprised and then pleased to see her human friend.

"You off to work?" Holly asked, noting the sharp security uniform her friend wore.

"Sure am, I'll be gone 'til super early in the morning," she confirmed. "Watch Alph for me, would ya?" Undyne gave one of her customary grins and waved before ducking into her car, having to hunch down into the seat as usual. Holly waved back and walked slowly backwards until her friend was out of sight, and turned to open the door.

"Helloo-oo!" she called, immediately kicking off her flats at the entrance. Alphys looked up from her laptop as she sat on the couch, surrounded by papers in a sort of organized chaos.

"Hey," the monster greeted, giving a distracted smile before diving back into her work for the university. "Sorry Holly, I'm so far behind on this and I gotta f-finish…"

Holly waved the apology off. "It's fine. Just so you know, all your salvageable stuff's been moved into my place," she added, remembering the call from the apartment's manager. "They're looking at camera feed to prove that you guys didn't… y'know," she concluded. Holly noticed that Alphys's tail was curling up slightly at her side.

"O-oh. That's good, at least," she stammered, trying to be positive.

"Yeah. They don't seem to want to charge you for damages if they can help it." The stout monster fidgeted. "They did mention that you may have to keep paying until the contract is up, though."

Alphys sighed. "Thanks. I'll tell Undyne later on."

"Sure thing."

Holly left her to her work and walked back to the kitchen table, where Frisk and Toriel worked on their own projects in companionable silence. They both gave preoccupied greetings, just as Alphys did, so Holly opted to leave them to it to join Papyrus. The tall skeleton seemed to be taking stock of Toriel's pantry.

"Hey Papyrus!" she called, and he turned in surprise.

"Oh, hello there! I was just wondering where Toriel kept her pasta…" he said, moving things aside carefully to look. "Ah, it's not spaghetti, exactly… but we have this!" He produced a box of penne and rattled it. "It's sort of a funny shape, though…"

"Oooh, I like penne. Wait a sec, Pap, let me look for a few things, so I can show you my grandma's recipe!" He stood aside and Holly and searched through the pantry herself, finding various ingredients they needed. She didn't know Toriel's kitchen as well as her own, but it seemed to be well-stocked and organized; lofty goals for a retail employee.

Soon, the counter was covered with things ranging from fresh veggies and pasta sauce to a cutting board and a large colander.

"Okay, I know Undyne taught you her way of making pasta, but today you're gonna learn something that Undyne isn't so good at."

Papyrus looked scandalized. "But, Undyne is good at _everything!_ She was the head of the Royal Guard, you know, and a renowned chef!" He hesitated after saying this, deflating a tiny amount. "Well, all right, maybe not a _renowned_ chef. But she knew how to cook things."

Holly laughed and put a hand on Papyrus's arm. "Nobody is good at everything, honey," she said, accidentally letting the habitual endearment slip. "We are going to learn patience and restraint today." She walked over to the fresh veggies she'd picked out: a large white onion and a zucchini. "To start, we're gonna chop these up. This is a chef's knife, see the wide shape? It's used for most of your work in the kitchen. Okay, now watch how I chop these so you keep your hands safe…"

She walked him through every step, letting him help to form handmade meatballs, talking him through using a sauté pan while simmering the sauce on low heat, showing him the importance of olive oil in the noodles to keep them from sticking and to keep that Italian flavor. Papyrus was a very quick and enthusiastic learner, though a bit clumsy with his hands. He kept trying to do things in a forceful manner—driven into him by Undyne—but Holly reminded him that he should stir _gently_.

He began stirring the sauce one last time before it was ready, but got overeager and splashed some on his shirt. "Whoops!" he cried, jerking the wooden spoon out of the pot, which served to only fling more sauce. It splattered across his face and all over the stove and counter top.

Holly began giggling—Papyrus's face was so shocked, and the spaghetti sauce was only making him look even goofier. "Put the spoon back, silly! C'mere, I got a paper towel for your face," she said between chuckles. The skeleton smiled sheepishly.

"Nyeh heh, I was merely having a taste!" he insisted, to which Holly just smirked. She gestured for him to bend down a little so she could reach his face.

"Sure you were, Pap. A little there, and… okay. Oh, wait, I missed a spot, come back!"

"What? Where?" Papyrus asked, bending down as directed only for the tip of his nose bridge to be met with her finger. His face scrunched—a skeleton monster phenomenon Holly had long stopped wondering about.

 _"Boop_. You are too cute," she laughed. Papyrus scowled and stood to his full height, crossing his arms.

"Am _not!_ I am intimidating and awe-inspiring!" he insisted, blushing.

"Are tooooo," she sang.

 _"Am not!"_ Papyrus whined, stamping his foot. A deep laugh sounded off to the side, and the pair of them looked over to see Sans leaning against the doorway.

"I dunno, Paps, I think she's right. You are pretty cute," he said, giving Holly a wink. Her smile fell for a brief second, but came back when Papyrus began sputtering about how very _not-cute_ he was. She backed off and let them banter a bit while she strained the noodles.

"Dinner's done!" she sang. Papyrus immediately quit arguing and clapped with excitement.

"Oh good! I will go tell the others and we can enjoy Holly's grandma's recipe that I, the Great Papyrus, helped to cook!" He ran to Frisk's room, since the teen had finished her homework and had retreated into solitude for a while.

Holly felt Sans's presence strongly as he watched her bustle about, cleaning up some of their mess and gathering place settings for the table. The two of them hadn't been alone together in quite a while; usually, there was at least one other person present as a buffer. Now, the dread of having a "talk" hung over her, despite doing her best to act natural about all of it.

"Papyrus really gets along with you, huh?" he said after a minute. His tone was casual.

"Y-yeah, he's really sweet. He… sorta reminds me of my sister," she answered with a tight smile that she flashed over her shoulder. "They're both taller than me, for one," she chuckled lightly.

There was another long pause. "You and Michelle always get along like that?"

Some of the anxiety melted from her face. "Yeah, we do. Well, except when we argued for all of five minutes," she laughed. "We never could fight for very long. We played a lot of games together as kids, or drew stuff for each other. Y'know, art trades, things like that. Or we'd talk about story ideas and big worlds, for hours…" Holly's smile was fond, but she remembered that her sister wasn't here with her, and her eyes lowered. "I miss her."

Sans stuffed his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. She noticed he wore the same one a lot; it was faded and frayed in places, suggesting that it was a favorite. "That sounds real nice. She ever come to visit?"

"Ah… not yet. It's… expensive to get plane tickets," Holly admitted, expression falling . She straightened up and began putting servings of dinner on plates. "I'm just gonna… get dinner on the table before it gets cold," she said.

"Yeah, okay."

Papyrus came back a few moments later to help out with dinner, effectively becoming another buffer between Holly and Sans.

* * *

Dinner turned out to be very good; everyone had looked as if they were bracing themselves for another of Papyrus's enthusiastic failures until they actually took a bite. Holly held back her laughter for the expressions of sheer relief all around the table. Even Papyrus himself was impressed. He mentioned that he would consider using some of Holly's techniques from now on when he cooked.

Toriel's fur was stained orange around her mouth, despite being dainty and neat when she ate. Frisk seemed to enjoy the lapse in decorum, though, since they kept giggling every time their mother turned to face them. The flustered monster volunteered to clean up, and Alphys got up to help. Papyrus went to watch a show starring Mettaton (he complained that his show was only weekly now instead of 24/7) and Frisk hopped up to go with him. Holly thought the teenager shot Sans a look before going, but it was so fleeting that she couldn't figure out what it meant.

"Hey, you wanna come outside with me? Could use a smoke break," Sans said from the other side of the table. Holly felt herself tense, even though she was expecting it.

"Y-yeah, sure."

The pair of them headed through the sliding door, Sans closing it behind them. He went around to sit at the now-familiar patio table. As he grabbed the pack of cigarettes from his hoodie pocket, Holly tilted her head curiously at him.

"So… why do you do that? Skeletons don't have… lungs or anything," she asked, turning a light shade of pink. "Or, um, if that's rude to ask, you don't have to answer," she stammered, fidgeting. His amused chuckle put her at ease as he answered.

"Nah, s'not rude. Skeletons are kinda rare, even among monsters." He took a drag of his cigarette, the smoke blowing out of his nose hole when he exhaled. "I used to smoke a while back in the Underground, until we ran outta these. Limited supply down there. Now that I got 'em up here, though…" He shrugged and took another drag as if to further his point.

"No, but, I mean, does it have the same… effect as it does on humans?" she continued, no longer feeling uncomfortable with the question since he'd put her at ease.

"Well, the nicotine does work on me. The ill effects… well, there are _some_ , but seein' as I don't have flesh, there aren't too many." He shrugged. "Plus, I kinda like havin' somethin' to do with my hands." He glanced off to the side. "Anyways, I wanted to chat with ya when we had a chance."

Holly's insides twisted nervously, but she fought to keep her voice level. "Y-yeah? What about?"

He went quiet for a moment, seeming to mull over how best to start. "My friends seem to really like ya so far." She couldn't help the little leap in her chest at that, though she wondered why he'd bring that up first. "Undyne trusts you. Alph seems comfy around ya. My bro… well, he gets along with everyone. But he seems to especially take a shine to ya." He glanced to the side again. "And, uh, so far I got no complaints."

At this point, the young woman was blushing brightly. "U-um. Thank you?" she began, but he held up his right hand to stop her.

"I just got a question for ya. It's important that you answer me truthfully." He flicked ash off the end of his cigarette. His pupils burned into her. "Holly. Have you ever hurt anyone? Badly?"

Her brows immediately furrowed. What kind of question was that? "What? No, of course I haven't," she said. Sans shifted in his seat to lean forward.

 **"D o n ' t l i e."**

The double-timbre voice he'd used when they first met was back, the same empty look on his face. He looked like Death himself, but right now it pissed Holly off more than anything. "What is this, an interrogation?" she asked hotly. "Sans, I get that you're more cautious than everyone else. You just want to protect Papyrus, right?" Her frown deepened when he stayed silent. Waiting. _"No_ , I never hurt anyone. What are you trying to imply?"

He leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers together over his chest. His cigarette trailed smoke. "By now, you know that souls are real, tangible things. You can see echoes of them when you dance with someone," he said, his voice back to its casual baritone, though more serious than she'd heard it before. "I have this… ability, of seeing into people's souls without calling them out. I can tell if someone has killed or hurt someone with ill intent." The smoke blew slightly in the wind and sputtered against his skull. "Your soul has the look of someone who's killed before."

Holly's heart thudded uncomfortably in her chest. "B-but that's impossible! I swear, I would _never_ hurt another person—" Her voice caught in her throat before she could continue, suddenly realizing. Oh. Oh, no. She couldn't… she couldn't talk about _that_.

"…Except?" Sans prompted, his pupils flicking across her face as if trying to read it. One of her hands reached down to clutch at her chest reflexively.

"…S-Sans, I can't… i-it's not what you think," she stammered, and her eyes shone with tears. "Please, I don't. I can't talk about this, b-but. I… I promise I never killed a-anyone… else." She was shivering. Humiliated.

"Anyone _else?_ _"_ he echoed. She wasn't sure what his expression was like, because she didn't dare look up at him. "What do you mean by…that…" His voice trailed off as he put two and two together. "Ah. I see." He went quiet.

He'd figured it out. She wrapped her arms around herself and avoided eye contact at all costs, afraid of what he'd say if he could see the emotions brought out by his line of questioning. Memories—unwanted, unbidden—of a dark, calming void, and being thrown back into the harsh light and searing pain; wanting to go back to the comfort of nothingness… Later dealing with the guilt and horror of knowing she'd have left Michelle alone and swearing to never try again…

She made a choking sound and she realized she was crying for what felt like the millionth time this month. She pressed her palms to her eyes and a sob escaped from between her teeth. God, he probably thought she was pathetic now.

She got out of her chair to stand up, though she wasn't sure where she was going to go in this state. Part of her wanted to go inside and wash her face of streaked mascara, then pretend that none of this had happened. Another wanted to pace and work off all this negative energy. A big part of her wanted to get away from Sans so she didn't have to see him look at her like she was a victim. Holly had experienced far more of that than she'd liked in her life. She expected him to treat her like fragile glass now; she was upset with him for digging into things that were none of his business, but mostly she was bitter and angry at herself for being so pitiful in the first place.

"Hey…"

Holly looked up to see Sans standing right next to her. His hands were stuffed into his hoodie pockets and his expression was sheepish. She fully expected to see pity there, but, curiously enough, there wasn't a trace of it written in his face.

"'m sorry. I didn't really figure somethin' like _that_ into the equation. Hell, I didn't even think that counted…" His left hand reached up to rub at the spot between his skull and neck vertebrae—a nervous gesture that humanized him. He was just one monster, doing his best to protect the ones he cared about. Holly hesitated just a moment before throwing her arms around him.

Sans stiffened for a few seconds before she felt the low rumble of his chuckling through his chest. She could feel his ribs, even through the thick fabric of his hoodie. He reached around and rubbed circles on her back with one hand as she smudged her tears into his shoulder. "It's okay," she sniffed. "You d-didn't know." Holly vaguely recognized the scent of ketchup and cigarette smoke in his jacket. She pulled back to look at him. The lights that made his pupils were larger than usual, and his brow was scrunched in concern.

"You gonna be okay?"

The question made her think of that text he'd left for her after her panic attack at Alphys and Undyne's apartment. He'd cared about her even then, after he'd seen _that_ in her soul. Her mouth twitched in a near-smile. "Yeah, I think so," she sniffed. She wiped her face with the heel of her hand. "Thanks, for… not asking me to talk about it," she said softly. He inclined his head.

"Think I already asked ya enough, _tibia_ honest," he commented, the edge of his mouth raising in a lopsided smile.

She let out choked little laugh at the joke. "You've used that one before. And don't worry about it, Sans," she said, giving him a watery smile. "I just hope that maybe…" Her face reddened and she fidgeted at the ends of her long sleeves. "We can be real friends now?"

He barked out a laugh at that, though it didn't seem mocking. "Yeah, sure we can, Holls."

* * *

 **A/N: Edited by Akinai_Sere and CadetSparkleWolf. I'd like to thank my anonymous reviewers here, since I can't send a PM to you! I appreciate you all!**


	12. Halloween

Between work, working on art commissions, and spending time with her new monster friends, the days flew by for Holly.

Undyne and Alphys had gotten back to their regular work schedules, meaning that Holly didn't see them very much at all—especially since they weren't neighbors anymore. This was upsetting, but all the texts from Papyrus and visits to Toriel's made up for it, just a little.

Soon enough, Halloween was upon them. Holly wasted no time in using the guise of costumes to make use of her artistic skills.

She could barely contain her excitement as she applied the base foundation of her Halloween makeup, contouring her face to look more feline. She didn't have anything fancy to wear when it came to costumes, but she made up for that with artistic makeup every year. This time, she was painting herself up as a leopard. The black eyeliner really made her eyes pop out of all the makeup and spots; she snarled in the mirror at herself, satisfied with the contrast of her teeth against the black lipstick. Done with the toughest part, she set a pair of cheap spotted cat ears on her head.

Halloween wasn't her favorite holiday, but it was up on the list. The cool autumn air and the cheesy but spooky atmosphere cheered her, especially with the knowledge that she was going to celebrate with her new group of friends. She hadn't yet seen either Undyne's or Alphys's outfits, but their descriptions gave Holly a decent picture. It was odd to think that Undyne, the monster who had seemed so threatening when they first met, was secretly such a huge anime nerd. Papyrus hadn't shown her his outfit, either, saying that he and Sans were still working on fixing it up. She didn't mind, though; it just meant it would all be a fun surprise.

She wondered briefly if Sans had ever planned an outfit for himself. The shorter of the two skeleton brothers had been making an effort—despite his apparent laziness—to be kinder to Holly. He was back to his easygoing, joking self; he was becoming the Sans that Holly had met on that day she'd first gone to their house to watch Undyne and Papyrus. Holly greatly appreciated that he never brought up the conversation they'd had on Toriel's back porch. He also didn't act as if she was fragile, which truly was what made her take to him quickly.

However, things were still… stilted between them. He was polite enough, and funny, but she got the feeling that he was still being cautious around her. The skeleton monster had been much less suspicious, though, so she had hope that she could become as good a friend to him as she was to the others.

A little while later and she'd made it to Toriel's. They were to all meet up there, since Frisk, Papyrus, and a handful of neighborhood kids were going trick-or-treating together. When she knocked, Papyrus answered the door, already decked out in his outfit.

"Oh, Pap! Wow, you look really handsome," she said, and meant it. He didn't have his hat on yet, but the black mariachi suit, complete with gold embellishments all along the seams, was tailored to his tall frame. It made him look elegant and festive.

"Why, thank you, huma—Holly," he corrected. He'd been trying to use Frisk's and Holly's real names, since it was confusing when the two of them would both answer. "But wowie, you look so _cool_! Did you do your face paint yourself?" he asked.

"Yep!" she answered proudly, stepping into the living room when he moved aside. "Is everyone all dressed up yet?"

"Yes! …Well, actually, Sans forgot to plan a costume for himself," he sighed. "He just wore his sweatshirt with bones on it."

Holly snorted at the irony of a skeleton wearing what she pictured immediately as one of those Hot Topic hoodies with a ribcage printed on it. "Of course he did. I bet it's even glow-in-the-dark." The fact that Sans hadn't planned his own outfit while spending all his time on Papyrus's didn't surprise her in the slightest, however, given his deflecting at the mall a while back. Sans also seemed to be the type to put Papyrus's wants above his own, even if it was something as trivial as a Halloween costume. "Where is that bonehead? I'm gonna make sure he's Halloween-ready."

Papyrus looked down at her with a bit of curiosity. "I think Sans is outside with Alphys and Undyne. What are you going to do?"

Holly grinned up at the tall monster. "Just gonna make sure you two have costumes that match."

* * *

When she did head out back, she was met with the squealing of her favorite yellow monster.

"Omigosh Holly! Did _you_ do your makeup? W-wow, you're so artistic!" Alphys was looking up at her, the skirt of her costume gently swishing in the breeze.

"Yeah I did," Holly said, laughing and looking Alphys over. The short dinosaur was clad in what looked like a very embellished sailor-senshi costume. It was all light and dark pinks, with baby blue ribbons and accents, as well as a large, multi-faceted plastic heart gem right where the oversized collar met in the middle. She even held a wand that matched, right along with the heart gem. "Wow, you look _adorable_ ," she complimented, to which Alphys's face turned an interesting shade of red.

"Ha! Told ya," Undyne cackled while her girlfriend sputtered. "Alphy is Kissy Cutie, and I'm her ultimate rival! Y'know, who's secretly in love with the hero," she explained, leaning down to give the yellow monster a peck on the nose. Undyne was dressed up in a senshi outfit, as well, but hers was black in color with white and blue accents. A cyan gem, oval in shape, sat in the same place Alphys's did. Where Alphys looked positively cute in her outfit, Undyne looked…

"Damn Undyne, you're totally hot in that," Holly laughed. Alphys squeaked at her side and the fish monster's cheeks darkened… was Undyne actually _blushing?_

It was true that the muscular monster woman filled out her costume in all the right places, her long limbs graceful, slim hips accented by the short skirt. Her normally tied up hair fell down to about mid-back and cascaded down her shoulders, making Undyne look much softer than usual.

"Yeah, well, I'm taken," she said, smirking and squeezing her girlfriend. Alphys squeaked, looking both embarrassed and pleased.

Sans's familiar laugh rolled over the table. "Jeez, you three. Get a room," he teased. Holly noticed that her prediction of a glow-in-the-dark Hot Topic shirt was spot on, since the ribcage print on his shirt was emanating a soft greenish light. She snorted, but then remembered why she'd come outside. She pointed an accusing finger at him.

"Don't think I don't know that you spent all your time on Papyrus's costume and _none_ on yours!" she scolded, to which Sans looked utterly unabashed. "I'm doing your face makeup. No exceptions!" Holly told him, her left fist planted on a hip.

He held his hands up in surrender. "Uh oh, seems I'm in a _spot_ of trouble," he said, grinning as he looked up at Holly's face. Undyne groaned loudly.

"Uuuugh, c'mon, let's get out of here before he starts with the cat jokes," she said, dragging her girlfriend back into the house by her hand. Alphys seemed used to this sort of thing, simply accepting that she was going wherever her girlfriend wanted to go.

"Aw, are you _paws_ -itive you wanna miss out on seeing me make up Sans?" Holly shouted. She heard Alphys giggle while Undyne screeched unintelligibly.

"Heh heh, good one," Sans complimented. His eyes followed her hands as she reached into her large purse, pulling out makeup brushes and different colors of gel eye liner. "You uh, weren't _kitten_ , huh?"

"Nope. I've been thinking about this idea since that day at the mall. You…" she said, pausing to fiddle at her phone. "Are gonna be done up like… this." She showed him a photo, chosen from a set of Google results. An image of an intricately decorated sugar skull met his gaze and he raised a brow at her.

"You're gonna paint me up with flowers and shit?" he deadpanned. "You've _cat_ to be _kitten_ me right _meow_."

She burst into laughter at both his disbelief and the stupid joke, but nodded. "Yes! It's a sugar skull, and it's another tradition from the culture you guys were looking up with the mariachi thing. Same country, at least. It's a tradition to celebrate a day of the dead, so to speak."

He gave her a skeptical look. "That seems kinda morbid."

She chuckled. "I think it's more about cherishing deceased loved ones' memories, things like that. I'm not an expert on Mexican tradition, but that's what I've heard." She finished unscrewing the lids on three colors and scooted her hair up closer to him. Sans blinked in surprise from the close proximity, brows raising when she reached out to touch his face.

"Uh. What are you doing."

"I have to touch you to put this on." She gave him a concerned look. "You're… okay with that, right? I forget that not everyone is as touchy as me," she said, unsure. Her casual approach to physical contact wasn't always accepted by others. Though she never meant anything bad by it, Holly often felt guilty when she accidentally invaded other peoples' comfort zones. She hoped it wasn't the case with Sans, who she had barely begun to get on good terms with.

However, he simply waved dismissive hand.

"Yeah, that's fine. Just… surprised me, is all," he assured her, settling into a comfortable position. She smiled with relief and excitement.

"Cool. Okay, I need you to hold still. Let me know if you want a break." And she set to work, dipping her brush into a bright blue color she normally used for eyeliner. She didn't speak as she worked, instead focusing on putting small marks on either side of Sans's face to make sure the makeup matched on either side.

"So you've had this idea since you saw us at the mall, huh?" he asked. Holly was about to scold him for talking when she realized he wasn't moving at all. Just another weird magic quirk, she supposed.

"Mhmm," she hummed, falling back into painting intricate designs by his eye socket. His bone was a surprisingly great canvas for her; a near-white color, dry, and smooth, and had a lot less give than skin. His face was still somewhat pliable, but it was still tough. The sensation was strange beneath her fingers. There was also an odd sort of… static. It felt similar to when he'd used his 'shortcuts', though not nearly as intense. Instead, it was like touching a television screen after it had been turned on for some time.

"How'd you know I'd need a costume? I still had plenty of time to come up with somethin'."

Holly backed away to view his face from further away, inspecting the symmetry of her work. "I could just tell. You sort of always put all your effort into Papyrus and none into yourself, you know," she said, quirking a made-up eyebrow at him. The spots at the edge of her eyes moved upwards with it.

Sans shrugged, not bothering to argue. "Eh. It's what brothers are for. You know how it is," he commented nonchalantly.

She tilted her head and nodded. "Yeah, I do. Which is how I knew you were gonna need my makeup skills," she teased. She leaned forward again, finishing the embellishments of the design. Her teeth found her bottom lip and worried at it as she focused. Leaning back one more time, she inspected his face before smiling with satisfaction. "Mmkay, I think you're good. Wait, I've got a mirror so you can see…"

As she dug into her bag, she felt Sans watching her, and she glanced up to catch him giving her an odd look. Her own brow furrowed.

"Sans? Something wrong?" she asked. The look he gave her made her squirm; it was like he was seeing far more than she would want to show anyone else. The hairs on her arms stood up with goosebumps when his eyes became unfocused, not quite meeting her face. For a moment, it felt like he was looking _through_ her. And as quick as it had happened, it was gone. He shifted and looked off to the side.

"Uh, no. Sorry, just spaced out."

She gaped at him, her heart racing. She wasn't sure why, but something in the way he was staring at her had made her feel… vulnerable. Like a mouse in the presence of a cat who decided it was too bored to pounce. She felt as though she was safe only because Sans was choosing to be complacent.

In a word, it was… _unnerving_. "U-um. Anyway, h-here's the mirror," she squeaked, because what was she supposed to say? That she freaked out because he looked at her funny?

He inspected her handiwork, both brow bones raised in surprise. "Hey, this is actually… pretty damn cool," he commented, turning to get a good look at the designs on his face. She'd opted to just use blue and black on him, going with more thin and intricate designs than a bunch of bright colors. Delicate curls and loops emphasized the ridges and bumps of his face.

She puffed with pride. "Thank you! I hoped you would like it," she said, smiling. "Okay, let's go meet up with the others."

Sans nodded, handing her the mirror. "Yeah, we better head out or Tori's gonna lecture us."

Holly laughed, the strange and frightening sensation from his gaze already forgotten.

* * *

"All right, children, remember to stay with your assigned partners. You are responsible for making sure to keep each other safe! Now, everyone go stand by your chaperones." Toriel looked taller than usual with her pointy witch's hat amongst many small schoolchildren, all of whom were wearing various costumes and listening to the goat monster raptly. She seemed to hold the power to capture anyone's attention, even with the gentleness in her voice.

For Halloween, Toriel's school was holding a special trick-or-treating event, meant to keep the kids safe. Monster and human children alike lived in this particular school district; while most people were used to the notion of living among monsters, it was still prudent to organize events this way for everyone's safety. Not all humans were happy about sharing their world with the people from beneath Mt. Ebbott.

Holly and Undyne were in charge of one group of kids, all of whom looked up with wide, eager eyes. For a brief moment, Holly was worried that her friend would be too rough for a bunch of very small children, but her worries were put at rest when she put her hands on her hips and addressed them all.

"Okay, listen up, kiddos! You heard Miss Toriel, stick with your buddy and make sure you stay where I can keep my eye on ya!" She emphasized the last bit by tugging the skin down under her good eye and sticking her tongue out, making the kindergarteners titter.

"And remember, don't eat any candy until your parents have checked to make sure it's safe!" Holly added. "Sometimes there are bad people who put dangerous things in there that can hurt you or make you very, very sick."

"Yes, Miss Holly," they droned. At the signal from Toriel, the kids set off and they were walking in formation along the street.

The night went on with little incident, save for a few people scowling and shutting the door on them when they spotted Toriel. Most people were polite, but curious.

Holly took note of Papyrus and Sans's group; the taller skeleton seemed a natural at handling kids. He kept them in line without making it seem like he was being strict, and his manner of speech kept them all in high spirits. Sans, meanwhile, followed behind them, watching to make sure none strayed. It reminded Holly of a line of ducklings, watched over by their parents.

A few hours later, the children all had buckets full of candy and tired, dragging feet. They made it back to the same block they'd come from, where the parents and chaperones had parked their cars.

One monster child, who looked to be about Frisk's age, danced around on his scaly feet as he approached Papyrus. Holly noticed that he didn't seem to have any arms, though it appeared to be his natural body form. She hadn't really considered not-completely-humanoid monsters, though the idea shouldn't have surprised her.

"U-um, Mr. Papyrus, sir!" he called out. The sharply dressed skeleton turned about and blinked.

"Ah, Monster Kid! I see you have volunteered to help with the children. Is there something I can help you with?" he asked, as formal as usual. The teen's eyes lit up.

"Y-you know my name? Holy cow! That's so cool! Cool! Cool!" he crowed, wiggling in place eagerly. Now Frisk, having been helping out with their mother, was taking notice of the scene. They giggled behind a hand.

"Well, of course I do! You lived in Snowdin Town with us, and I remember all my neighbor's names," Papyrus answered, seeming almost incredulous at the idea that he _wouldn't_ know all the names of people of a whole town.

"Y-you're…" Monster Kid's eyes suddenly began glittering and his lip wobbled. Papyrus's face dropped and he held a hand out in alarm.

"Ah, uh, do not cry, I did not mean to, er, remember your name?" he said, but the monster teen wasn't listening.

"You're the coolest, Papyrus! I've been your fan for like, since we left the Underground and I used to like Undyne more but then I found out how nice you are and then you ended up already being friends with Undyne and..."

Holly backed away slowly to let Papyrus deal with Monster Kid, shoulders shaking with suppressed laughter. She and Undyne began walking back towards the house. Sans fell into step with them, and Alphys scurried along to try and keep up on her short little legs. "We'll meet ya back at the house, bro," Sans called over his shoulder, giving a short wave. Papyrus didn't say anything in response, but Holly could imagine the tall skeleton's flustered expression.

"You sure Papyrus will be all right handling his avid fan?" Holly teased. The shorter skeleton waved a hand nonchalantly.

"Yeah, Paps can handle himself. We're a five minute walk away, and Tori's with him."

They walked in a sort of happy silence, still hyped about the holiday and all the adorable kids in costumes.

"All right, nerds!" Undyne yelled once they got indoors. "Now it's time to celebrate the adult way! Who wants to get drunk and do stupid shit?!" Alphys's eyes grew wide and nervous; Holly paused and thought about the suggestion.

It had been quite a while since she had done anything "adult" with her friends. Holly wasn't big into alcohol, but sometimes it sounded appealing to just cut loose and have a good time in a safe environment. Drinking led to silliness and a little bit of flirtiness if she was careful and didn't have too much, but she would have to make sure she stayed at that fun level. One drink too much and she'd turn into a sad human being who overshared everything about her life.

Deciding that she would allow herself to have a little fun, Holly relented, though she would have to make sure not to let Undyne bully her into too much alcohol.

"Uh, well I'd be okay with a few drinks at someone's house," Holly answered. "But let's leave out the dangerous shit and maybe play video games instead."

"That doesn't sound too bad, actually," Sans piped up in response to Holly's suggestion. His makeup, now that she saw it in the light, was smudged quite a lot. She fished out a pack of makeup wipes; she'd brought them for herself, though it seemed Sans would need it, too. She handed him one.

"Here, this gets rid of makeup easier. As for having an _adult_ party, where should we go? I don't think Toriel's would be a good idea, since Frisk has school in the morning and Toriel has to get up early." She left unsaid that her apartment would also be a bad idea; though it would only be a visit, Holly really didn't want to endanger her friends and incur the wrath of the people who had attacked Alphys. That and it was probably a very bad idea to have a drunk Undyne brooding over the whole situation because of the familiar surroundings.

"We can go to my place. Pap's room is pretty soundproof—his room's got some really thick carpet, so we prob'ly won't wake him if he goes to bed early," Sans offered, scrubbing at his face with the cloth. "We got a pullout bed, and I can just go crash with my bro, so someone can borrow my bed."

Undyne snorted. "Pff, I've seen your room, lazy ass. I call dibs on _not_ sleeping in there."

Holly laughed. "It can't be _that_ bad. I'll take it and you two can have the pullout bed." Alphys gave Holly a doubtful look.

"U-um, okay…" she said hesitantly, giving Holly second thoughts. Was Sans really _that_ much of a slob…?

The skeleton in question finished getting all the makeup off, seeming relieved. His cheekbones shone slightly in the dim light from the moisture. "'K then. I can't give all of ya a shortcut at once, so let's just take a car. I think all of us can fit in Pap's."

"Woo! Let's PARTY!" Undyne crowed. Holly felt mildly worried about the fish monster's version of a party, though she couldn't help the huge grin splitting her face.

* * *

 **A/N: No beta this time around, I got too busy! I'm working with a team on an Undertale Dating Simulator, so I'm having to balance that and this fic. Until next week~**


	13. Fun and Games

**A/N: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS ALCOHOL USAGE AND LOTS OF REALLY SILLY DRUNK PEOPLE. Go to the end notes for a brief summary of events sans (ha) the alcohol if you are uncomfortable with this! Just do ctrl+f and look up "chapter summary".**

 **Also! I have a tumblr that I post chapters up onto, and I also post my own art of this fic and Spotify playlists! I made a playlist for Holly so far and for the Dancetale AU in general. Check me out at .com! Credit to Akinai_Sere and CadetSparkleWolf for being my beta readers 3**

* * *

"So, Papyrus, how'd it go with your _number one fan?"_ Undyne asked, her arm draped across the headrest of her best friend's seat. She'd demanded shotgun, of course, so Sans, Alphys, and Holly had squeezed in together in the back. Having the slimmest lap (being a skeleton was very convenient at times), Sans took the middle seat with the lap buckle. His eyes were closed; Holly wondered if he was dozing off.

"He was rather enthusiastic," Papyrus answered, both pleased and exasperated. "I am very happy to have such a fan! He asked me to autograph… well, everything." The skeleton went quiet to focus carefully on the road.

"Heh, see, you're super cool, bro," Sans piped up, opening one eye a sliver. "Ya got three fans now."

"Three? But… weren't there just the two kids?" Undyne asked, seeming confused. Sans grinned back at her, seeming as if he was waiting for the question.

"Yeah, and me." His eyes glanced into Papyrus's rear-view mirror, where the two of them shared a fond look. Holly couldn't help but to squeal quietly. Sans flapped one hand irritably, the other going to the side of his head as if to cover a nonexistent ear. "You two sound like a coupl'a mosquitoes," he griped, and Holly realized that Alphys had a sparkle in her eye.

"Anyway, bro," he said before either of the girls could gush. "Undyne wanted to have a li'l party at our place. Nothin' too crazy, just a few drinks between friends. You wanna join us?"

The tall skeleton's smile from a moment ago dropped into a disapproving frown. "Sans, you know I do not partake in such activities," he sniffed.

Undyne cackled, tossing her head back against the seat. "Aw, c'mon Paps, nothin' wrong with a little adult fun once in a while." She kicked a foot up on the dashboard and leaned her seat back slightly. Papyrus gave her a flustered glance.

"W-well, I _know_ that, but I prefer not to indulge in such things. Though I appreciate the offer," he said, glancing back at Sans through the mirror.

"Yeah, I figured ya wouldn't wanna join us. I just wanted to make sure you weren't left out," the elder brother clarified.

"Is it all right that we're using your house, though?" Holly asked, wanting to make sure they weren't going to be a nuisance—even if Sans had already offered, since it was technically his house, too.

"Oh, of course! I soundproofed my room some time ago, when my brother decided to practice playing his trombone too many days in a row," he said drily, seeming to pout. How he pulled it off without having a lower lip, Holly had no idea. Sans seemed utterly unapologetic.

They pulled into the driveway and Undyne leapt out, prancing over to the door and unlocking it with her own key. She gestured for them all to hurry up and get inside; Holly had barely even begun to unbuckle herself by the time she disappeared into the skeleton household.

"Um, P-Papyrus, if you want I c-can ask her to hold off on drinks for a bit? If you want to j-just, um, hang out with us," Alphys offered as they walked inside. The tall skeleton smiled.

"Oh that is quite all right, Dr. Alphys. I always go to bed at this time so I can wake early and get started with my day!" he assured her. "Have fun _responsibly_ , all of you!" And he was down the hall. Sans followed him.

"Back in a minute," he said, and Holly remembered when she saw him read to Papyrus at Toriel's. A small smile crossed her features.

"G'night, Paps!"

"G-good night, Papyrus!"

"All right, punks, I got the good shit," Undyne said, coming back with two large bottles of liquor. "Man, it's been a while since I've gotten to do this."

Holly wondered vaguely where the monster even got those bottles of alcohol, but didn't question it too much as she was already back in the kitchen to gather glasses for each of them. Holly insisted on pouring her own drink, especially when she watched Undyne make her own glass of straight alcohol. A mix with apple juice from the refrigerator suited Holly just fine instead. Alphys copied Holly and went light on the alcohol, while Undyne snorted at the both of them.

"Buncha lightweights."

Sans finally emerged from the room, eyeing everyone's drinks and pouring just a simple half-glass of straight liquor for himself. Undyne grinned at him, her smile pointy.

"Ha! See, shortie here knows how it goes. All right, what're we drinkin' to?" she asked, thoughtfully swirling her own glass.

"New friends?" Holly suggested, the corner of her mouth turning up. The black lipstick was fading slightly, a pink line visible on the inside of her bottom lip. Sans held his glass up, tilting his head at her with a grin.

"Yeah, new friends," he agreed, and the four of them tapped their glasses together. Undyne's sloshed just a bit with the enthusiasm before they knocked back the first of their drinks relatively quickly.

"Tastes like paint thinner," Sans commented, the bone over his nose bridge wrinkling.

"Hey, that's how you know it's good," Undyne cackled. Holly huffed in quiet laughter, her friend's behavior reminding her of a college age kid. "Short stack, you got any cards around?" Undyne asked, her empty glass clinking on the table. She was already pouring another for herself; Holly frowned, hoping that Undyne wasn't all talk about her tolerance. She really did _not_ want to have to heft around a huge slab of muscular dead weight. She didn't have time to think about it too much when a ripple of fuzziness overtook her brain; it wasn't powerful, but it was enough to make her joints feel a little loose.

"Nope. Hang on, I need to make this taste not completely disgusting," Sans answered, heading into the kitchen and coming back with a bottle of ketchup. Holly downed the rest of her drink and refilled the glass with a little of just the liquor, figuring that her taste buds would be numbed enough to tolerate the awful taste. She sipped at it, curling a lip. It really did taste like paint thinner.

She was just noticing that her lipstick was leaving black marks all over the glass when she saw Sans unscrewing the cap to his ketchup bottle—not bothering with squeezing it through the nozzle. He poured it into his glass with the vodka that was already in it, and began mixing it together with a spoon. Alphys seemed unfazed by this, but Undyne made a noise of disgust.

"Sans, oh my God. That is… nasty," Holly commented, breaking down into laughter as a bit more of her composure slipped. The skeleton just shrugged and continued mixing the ungodly concoction.

"Hey, no knockin' my quirks." He finished mixing, contemplated the drink for a moment, and gave her a skeletal wink. "Now to _old_ friends, 'm I right?" he said, glancing over at Alphys. She lit up.

"R-right!"

The four of them went through their second drinks this way, and though Holly hadn't had a whole lot, she was feeling quite tipsy. Before she could forget, and wake up with horribly smudged makeup, she pulled her pack of wipes and cleaned up. It took quite a few to get the full-face leopard spots off entirely.

"Y-you've still got the, um, black around your eyes," Alphys told her, swaying slightly.

"Yeah, eyeliner's tough to get off completely. If that's all that's left, it's fine." Undyne took the moment to pour Holly another drink, this one much fuller than she normally would have made. She shrugged, knowing she could simply slow down. "Hey, where's your cups and stuff? I'm gonna get some water, too," she asked Sans, her speech slower and more deliberate as she forced herself to concentrate through the haze.

"Second cabinet from the right, by the fridge," Undyne answered before Sans could. Holly tottered her way back with the glass, downing half of it before touching her drink again. She _really_ did not want to wake up with a bad hangover.

"Okay so if you don't have any cards, what're we supposed to do?" Undyne complained. Her ear fins were turning an interesting shade of red at the tips and her words were getting very drawn out. "Every party's got games. We need a _party_ game."

"Okay, okay I know one game, guys," Holly said, snickering for some strange reason. Her vision was starting to get fuzzy. "It's called. Um…" She snorted, the idea that she'd forgotten the name of the game becoming incredibly funny. "Wait, wait. Okay. It's called. 'Never Have I Ever'. The rules are, um." She paused for a long moment, trying to think through the fog of her mind. "We sit around, and, like. One person at a time says a thing that they've never done, but they think everyone else has. And then… then everyone who has done that thing has to take a drink and they lose a point."

"Wait wait. How many… points do we get?" Undyne asked, focus deteriorating.

"Well my friends usually did, like. You start with a whole hand and put one finger down every time you did a thing." She held up her own hand as an example and put a finger down. "So, like, everyone gets… five points to begin with."

Sans and Undyne nodded thoughtfully, accepting this rule, but Alphys stared down into her open palms. "But… I have f-four fingers…" she lamented, and her voice sounded so ridiculously upset about it that Holly burst out into peals of laughter.

"Hahaha, ohhh, my God Alphys… four fingers… haha, oh man, monsters are so _weird_ ," Holly giggled, trying to gasp air. Undyne, who had joined in the laughter, was trying to be serious.

"Hey… no… makin' fun of my girl!" she cackled, though the intimidating effect was not as effective when she was flushed and grinning. Her pointed teeth clicked together.

"Alph can jus'. Use two hands," Sans suggested, and the yellow monster looked horrified.

"But th-then I'll have _eight!_ "

The room exploded with laughter. Poor Alphys looked so distressed and frustrated with them all, until Sans calmed down enough to speak. He wiped tears from his eye socket (Holly stared, fascinated to know that skeletons _did_ have the ability to make tears).

"Alph. Alph. You just—you use one whole hand, and just one finger on the other one," he clarified, his voice still laced with humor.

The scientist's eyes widened in understanding. " _Ohhh_." She went back to staring at her hands in wonder.

"Okay. So, we got the rules? And we got our drinks. Who wants to start? Last person with their finger on their nose is it!" Holly and Alphys rushed to do just that, Alphys just a little bit after Holly (and knocking her glasses askew). The other two, however, protested against this.

"Ha ha ha, you're hilarious, Holly."

"Uhh I don't… got a nose, Holl."

The night was looking as if it would break down to just a bunch of tipsy, cackling idiots at this point. With Undyne scowling down at Holly and her girlfriend down the very flat plane of her face (which had no nose because, wait, did Undyne have _gills_?) and Sans trying to look offended, and failing… even Alphys was snorting.

"Ohhh my God, okay, okay. We'll just. Hee hee, _no nose_. I'll just go first," Holly finally said. The other three quieted down, giving her as much attention as they could. "Um. Okay. Never have I ever…" She thought hard, and remembered something Frisk mentioned once. She looked up with a smug smile. "Never have I ever used a ferryboat."

The three monsters groaned simultaneously. "Uuugh, no fair," Undyne complained, but she took a sip of her drink along with the others. "That's one point."

"Okay. Okay, Sans, your turn."

The skeleton swirled his viscous drink thoughtfully. "Never have I ever floated in water," he said.

"Oooh, that's a good one," Alphys complimented while everyone took their loss. "O-okay. My turn. Uhmm… N-never have I ever been in a battle!"

"Ha! Me either," Holly crowed while Sans and Undyne took drinks. The latter glanced over at Sans skeptically.

"Your lazy ass has been in a fight before?" she asked. The skeleton just shrugged.

"I'm full o' mysteries. But, uh. Me and my bro have gotten rough as kids," he answered, glancing off to the side. Undyne tilted her head in thoughtful acceptance, but Holly thought she saw… something in Sans's expression…

Eh, she was probably just tipsy. "All right, punks! Then it's my turn!" Undyne slammed her drink down. "Never have I ever had sex with a guy before!"

Alphys's face went from a pleasant flush from the drinks to a bright, cherry red. Across the way, Sans's eyes grew very round. Holly blushed as well, though a guilty grin spread across her face.

"Ha, looks I lose this time," she commented, avoiding eye contact with everyone. Undyne pounded on the table with raucous laughter.

"Hahahaha, get 'em Holly!" the monster roared, greatly amused at the reaction at her bold move. "Okay, now it's your turn," she smirked. A slow, devious smile came to the human's face as she regarded her next move.

"Okay, how about this, then: never have I ever had sex with a _woman_ before."

The table went deadly silent, the grin sliding right off of Undyne's face to be replaced with a dark flush. Across the table, Alphys squeaked in despair and hid her face behind her claws. Sans left his drink untouched, same as last round.

"Ohhh ho ho! How _interesting_ ," Holly said as the other two monsters took silent sips of their drinks. They seemed to pointedly avoid eye contact with one another. "Was it with each other? I bet it was with each other." Her face was like the cat that ate the canary.

"Hollyyyyyy…!" Alphys whined. Undyne sputtered incoherently.

"Damn, Holl, ya got Undyne actually _speechless_ ," Sans commented in amusement, giving her an impressed look. "You are _evil_ when you're drunk."

She tossed her head back and cackled, even when Undyne glowered at her.

"Okay okay, _God_. Sans, your turn. _Ass_ ," she added, narrowing her visible eye at Holly. There was a bit of a smile playing at the corners of her mouth when she glanced over at her girlfriend, however.

"'K, uhhh. Never have I ever owned a cat," he said.

"Aww, now you're just picking on meeee," Holly protested as she reached for her drink alone. "You saw Miki on Skype with my sister."

The skeleton gave her a mysterious grin. "Maybe."

The game kept going for quite a while; Undyne lost first, much to her chagrin, and Holly was out second. Sans ended up being the winner and the four of them decided to head out back for a bit of fresh air and porch space. There wasn't any furniture outside, unlike Toriel's house, but the back steps made a decent enough seat.

"Oooh, the sky's so clear tonight," Holly commented immediately, turning her face up. "The stars are really pretty…"

Sans glanced at her sideways. "Yeah, they are." He shifted next to her to gaze upwards, leaning back on his hands. Nearby, Alphys had settled her head on Undyne; the pair of them were fairly engrossed with one another, seeming to ignore Sans and Holly for the time being. The skeleton's face softened—as much as it could for a skeleton monster—into an almost wistful expression. Holly cupped her drink, sensing that he was about to speak.

"First thing we saw was the sunrise. Y'know, when we came up here," he told her. "It was… amazing. So bright, so warm. Pap's face… seein' it lit up like that, with all the colors…" She watched him closely, noting how his pupils got all bright and big when he spoke about his brother. "An' then, when the first day ended, and it got all dark," he continued, never tearing his eyes away from the sky. "The stars came out. Real ones, not the crystals we had Underground to look like 'em."

He finally turned to look at Holly. She blinked slowly, trying to focus on him, because he was giving her the most honest expression she'd seen on his face before. She didn't want to miss it; this seemed important, for some reason.

"That night… it was so clear an' calm. It got so dark, but when I looked up and saw all those stars, I just…" He trailed off, looking away. Holly took a breath, realizing she'd been holding it when he looked at her. "Almost wanted to dance under 'em," he muttered.

And then the expression was gone. Holly downed the rest of her drink and stood up, tottering precariously. "Why… why didn't you?" she asked slowly, her words running together. He didn't answer and she turned to look at him. "Sans?"

"That's… I just don't dance anymore," he answered, his voice clipped. His brows were drawn together as if he was irritated, but Holly knew that something was wrong. Alphys said monsters danced because it was good for their souls, right? So why didn't Sans?

She felt her mood drop and a tiny part of her brain was admonishing her for letting her guard down. She dropped down her knees; they smacked against the pavement, though she wouldn't feel the bruises until the morning. The skeleton monster blinked at her—they were on eye level and she was reaching a hand out. To do what, Holly didn't even know.

That was the last thing she remembered before her memory blacked out for the rest of the night.

* * *

 **Chapter Summary: Everyone goes to the skelebros' house, Papyrus decides that partying isn't for him and heads to bed while the others chill. They play a game together that lets them get to know each other; we find out Holly's 'done the do' with a guy before, Sans hasn't done the do, and Alphyne has done the do probably with each other. Because mature adults ask about this stuff. The four of them head out, Alphys and Undyne cuddle and stop paying attention to Holly and Sans who sit on the steps to chat. Sans mentions how he felt when they first got to the surface and says that he almost wanted to dance when he saw the stars for the first time. Holly asks why he didn't and reaches out for Sans when her mind fuzzes into a memory blackout.**


	14. Hangover

**Mentions of alcohol in here but no actual usage.**

* * *

 _She made one last check through her luggage. Birth certificate, ID, plane tickets, high school diploma, social security card, the necessary items to get her through the first month or so. Her whole life, packed into just a few small bags, because she couldn't afford to pay for extra checked baggage._

 _The sun hadn't come up yet, but she could feel the shift into the beginnings of sunrise. She held her breath as she took one last look into the bedroom, her eyes falling upon the peaceful form of her sister. The soft sounds of her breathing could be heard in the silence the early morning brought._

 _Holly felt her throat close up._

'One year. One year, and she'll be in college and out of here,' _Holly reminded herself, but it didn't keep her from feeling sick to her stomach._

"… _I'm sorry," she breathed, and with terrible effort she tore her gaze away from Michelle's sleeping form. She slipped through the house and out the back door to meet her cab on the corner of their street, dragging a humble bag of belongings behind her._

Holly peeled her eyes open and immediately regretted it.

"Ugh…" Her body ached all over but she forced herself into an upright position. This was also a bad idea; moving so quickly made the room spin and nausea roiled through her belly. "Shit…"

She glanced around the room, squinting through one eye and rubbing the grime and makeup out of the other. It wasn't her own apartment or bed, though her phone and glasses sat on a small bookshelf doubling as a nightstand nearby. There was also a glass of water, a bottle of pills, and a piece of paper. Taking the time to rub the rest of the sleep and crust from her eyes, she clumsily put her glasses on and grabbed the paper to read whatever was on it.

' _Dear Holly,_

 _I have left for the day to take care of important things, and Dr. Alphys and Undyne have both gone to work. Sans is here with you, so please let him know if you need anything! Feel better soon, and please be sure to drink the water I left for you! The_ _Undernet_ (this was crossed out) _Internet says that humans need to re-hydrate after a night of drinking alcoholic beverages. I also took the liberty of doing your laundry for you! It is on Sans's dresser. I will be back this afternoon!_

 _Your best friend,_

 _The Great Papyrus_

 _P.S. Please speak with Sans. He was very worried about you. Next time, please take better care of yourself!'_

She felt her heart drop as she read the letter. She really _did_ have too much to drink last night, hadn't she? Holly felt sheepish, like an irresponsible college student that needed babysitting. The feeling was forgotten briefly when another wave of nausea rippled through her. Her hands shook slightly like she had the flu when she reached for her phone and checked the time. _12:38pm_.

"Fiiiine, _fine_ I'll get up," she muttered to nobody in particular. Something in Papyrus's letter clicked in her brain and she froze, slowly looking down at herself. She was wearing a loose men's t-shirt that had some sort of molecular diagram on it and a pair of loose sweatpants that were rolled up (she was too short for them). She wasn't wearing a bra or… oh God, she didn't have underwear on at all.

She held in the screech that threatened to tear from her throat—first of all, her mouth felt like it was full of cotton, so screaming seemed like an un-fun thing to do, and second, she was pretty sure any loud noises at all would add to the throbbing headache she already had. Who had undressed her? Had anyone else seen? Oh _God_ did she throw up on her other clothes or something?

"Noooo," she moaned, her voice coming out cracked and dry. She held her head in both hands, automatically finding the edge of the bed to sit. Standing and thinking weren't things she could manage simultaneously at the moment.

The faint static of Sans's magic was easy to miss in this state, so when he appeared from nowhere at her side, she jumped so badly that she fell off the bed.

"Owwww…" The fast movement had made the room spin viciously; she licked her lips and breathed slowly as another wave of nausea rolled through her body.

"Shit, Holl, you okay?" Sans's face was full of concern as he hovered over her, watching her face.

"Dandy," she rasped. Her eyes were trained on the popcorn ceiling. "This your room?" she asked, remembering vaguely that he'd offered his bed before they had a long night of drinking. He gave her an odd look.

"Uh, yeah... Here, gimme your hand." The skeleton reached his left hand out for her. Holly took it and felt herself be tugged into an upright position; if she had been more capable of paying attention, she would have noticed that Sans seemed to be able to heft her solid weight around with hardly any effort at all. In her miserable state, however, all she did was take in shaky breaths to make sure she didn't vomit. "You, uh. Doin' okay there?" His hand still held hers, the other one going to the small of her back as he got to her side.

"I feel like hot garbage," she complained, squinting up at him. Even though he was short compared to human men's standards, he still stood a good few inches taller than her—especially when she was hunched over in misery. "I need some of those Ibuprofen. Let me sit a few minutes 'til it kicks in." He helped her down immediately and sat with her, watching carefully as she reached for the bottle of pills. Holly tapped out three of them, feeling as though she really needed a high dosage. "Fuck, why do my knees hurt so much…"

"You, uh. Sorta bludgeoned 'em on the concrete," Sans answered, the corner of his grin tilting up at her grouchy swearing despite the concern in his eyes.

"I did?"

"Yeah. Do you… not remember that?"

She looked over at him, frowning. "No. Did I really get _that_ drunk?"

He avoided her gaze. "…You should take those. You need water, too," he said. Holly couldn't help but notice the very obvious change in subject.

' _Shit.'_

She paid very careful attention to the task of grabbing the full glass, not trusting her hands to hold steady. She took a gulp of water after tossing the Ibuprofen back, feeling immediate relief as the water splashed around to wet her cotton-dry mouth. "I am _so_ glad I don't have work today."

Sans snorted, but did not smile. His body language was tense, and though he didn't have muscles, Holly thought his shoulders seemed somewhat rigid.

"Sans…" she tried again, putting her glass carefully on the small bookshelf. "What happened?"

The skeleton took a deep breath and let it out before leveling her with a flat look. "You got drunk and _really_ emotional, pretty much. Talked about a lot of things." He shifted, seeming uncomfortable. Holly felt ice slip into her stomach.

That could mean a lot of things. A _whole lot_ of things that Holly was not okay with. With as much delicacy as she could muster in her hungover state, she asked the inevitable question. "…Talked about _what_ kinds of things, Sans?"

He reached up to rub the spot where his cervical vertebrae and his skull met, grimacing. "Well, let's, uh. Talk about this over breakfast." The skeleton got up and hurriedly scooted out the door. If Holly hadn't been worried before, she sure as hell was now.

' _Shit, shit, shit…'_

She steeled herself both mentally and physically before getting to her feet (again). Her head was clearing a bit; she glanced around Sans's room, her curiosity winning over the pounding in her brain.

It was minimal; there was the bed, which was just a single-size with no headboard or anything, a couple of pillows and simple sheets. He had the small bookshelf that doubled as a nightstand, and a mismatching dresser on the other side of the room. A dirty clothes hamper sat neatly next to it, with several pairs of dirty socks littering the floor right at its base. There wasn't much lighting in the room, which Holly was honestly grateful for at the moment. There was just a floor lamp and a window with blackout curtains covering it so no light got in when they were shut. By that window was a humble desk—more of a flimsy table, really—with a closed laptop sitting on top of it. There were also stacks of scattered papers, dirty dishes, writing utensils, sticky notes, and various other odds and ends there. She noticed with some disgust that there was an empty bottle with dried, crusted ketchup at the edges.

Alphys and Undyne weren't kidding when they said that Sans was a slob.

Thankfully her nose was a bit too stuffy to take in what must have been the musty scent of stale laundry and dirty dishes. Holly always got a little sick with a cold after partying too much, or getting bad sleep. She'd read somewhere that drunken sleep disallowed for proper REM cycles, therefore not allowing the immune system to replenish overnight. She could believe it with how dreadfully tired she felt at the moment.

Holly made her way down the hall and into the dining room, where Sans was already sitting and checking his phone. He seemed perfectly fine, aside from faint circles beneath his eye sockets. She squinted at him suspiciously.

"Did you _not_ get a hangover?" she asked. He glanced at her from over the top of his phone, grin widening.

"Nah, monsters burn off alcohol pretty quick and heal from its effects faster than humans. Undyne was probably the worst off 'sides you, seein' as she usually needs more water than me and Alph." He seemed amused when she scuffed over to the coffee pot to pour herself a mug he had set out for her. It was cold, but microwaved coffee was better than none.

"Important question," she said, tilting her head slightly towards him, but focusing on putting sugar in her coffee. "Who helped me change into different clothes last night, and why not just let me sleep in my clothes I was already wearing?"

Sans held up a finger. "First of all, that's two questions. Second, Undyne hefted ya around and helped ya change." Holly actually looked at him and blinked in surprise to see that his cheekbones were a light shade of blue. "Third, Alph spilled her drink on ya, and frankly, I didn't want my bed smellin' like a brewery."

She snorted and helped herself to some of the bread that was on the counter, popping it into the toaster. "Like it would've made much of a difference in there anyways," she muttered. Sans narrowed his eyes at her.

"What was that?"

"Hm? I didn't say anything," she said innocently, grabbing the butter from the refrigerator. "Where're the butter knives?"

He squinted at her for another moment before jerking his head to the left. "Third drawer away from the stove."

They fell into a brief silence as she made herself the simple breakfast (brunch), but she could feel his eyes watching her. Rather than feeling accusatory, she thought his gaze was more… attentive. It was odd, but it mostly made Holly wonder how bad she got last night for him to be so concerned.

She made her way to the table with her toast and coffee, flopping a little too quickly into the seat across from Sans. She winced when her knees creaked in protest.

"Okay, Sans. Lay it on me," she sighed in a resigned sort of way. "Last I remember, we were on the back porch. Talking about…" she furrowed her brow. It made her head throb. "Stars? I think?"

Sans watched her and nodded slowly. "Well, that gives me an idea of where you started blackin' out, then." He took a sip of his coffee, finding his mug interesting. "You asked me a lotta questions about… my life," he told her, the corner of his grin quirking upwards. Holly glanced at him, sensing that he had just avoided giving any details. She didn't press it. "I said I didn't wanna get into it and then you, uh… apologized. A _lot_."

"I started crying, right?" Holly filled in drily. He looked startled, but she shook her head derisively. "I've only ever been _this_ drunk one other time and I just apologized a lot while crying." She cringed. "You guys had to babysit me for the whole night, huh?"

Sans shrugged unhappily. "Yeah. I sorta took that part over though. You, uh… that wasn't all you talked about," he hedged. Holly felt her blood freeze in her veins. "I didn't think you'd… want more than one person to hear the stuff you were sayin'." He frowned at her, though his eyes weren't quite focused. The skeleton opened his mouth to start talking again when Holly interrupted in a small, fragile voice.

"Don't." Her hands were trembling. "Sans. If… whatever you heard. If it was about…" her throat closed up and choked off her words. She cleared her throat and tried again, feeling her eyes burn. "If it was about my… mother. Can you just... _please_ not talk about it?" Holly raised her eyes to catch his stilled gaze, confirming her suspicions. She nodded and took a moment to regain her composure. "That's a part of my life I wasn't really ready to share," she admitted. Her hands rubbed against the edges of her coffee mug.

He let out a long, tired sigh. "Yeah, okay. That's what I figured." Imposing silence grew between them. After a long moment, Sans tapped his skeletal fingers on the table. "Y'know… if you, uh. _Wanna_ talk about stuff, though…" he trailed off.

Holly shook her head, but gave him a kind, sad smile. "I appreciate that very much, Sans. But it's… not something I really. Talk about." She fidgeted. "I… hope you don't think less of me," she finished softly, stubbornly refusing to look him in the eye now.

"What? Why would ya think that?" he asked, sounding genuinely confused.

Her dry lips peeled apart in surprise. She licked them. "…Because I don't talk to her anymore?" she asked. He snorted.

"If anyone understands how shitty people can be, it's me," he said darkly, making her blink at him curiously. Holly knew very well how hard it was to speak about such things, though, so she decided not to pry.

"Well, um. Thank you," she said, and this time she gave him a tired but genuine look. She supposed she should have known he wouldn't be like Toriel on this matter; the larger boss monster was far more vehement about parental bonds for obvious reasons. Sans inclined his head.

"Sure thing, Holl. But, uhhh…" He gave her a once-over, the bone across the bridge of his nose wrinkling. "You need a shower," he observed. She sputtered incoherently, turning a bright shade of red.

"Excuuuuuse me?" she said in half-mocking offense. "I smell like a bed of roses," she insisted, lifting her arm to sniff herself and blanching. "Oooh, okay, yeah. You're right."

He laughed, and she grinned at him, feeling the tension break. "Paps washed your clothes. I think Undyne's got shampoo in there, knock yourself out."

The hot water from her long (but not rudely long) shower helped her sore muscles immensely. She was drying her hair with the fresh towel Papyrus had thoughtfully put out for her when she heard said skeleton's voice from somewhere down the hallway. He must've returned home in the time she'd been showering.

She put on her outfit from yesterday, grateful that she'd chosen to wear simple jeans and a leopard-print t-shirt instead of a complicated costume. She tried not to think too hard about Papyrus washing her bra and panties.

"Oh, Holly!" he exclaimed when she finally emerged, feeling much improved from when she woke up. "I see you've rested up. Are you feeling better?"

Holly tugged at a lock of her hair sheepishly. "Um. Yeah, I am," she said shyly. "Thank you for helping to take care of me," she told him sincerely. He gave her a kind smile.

"You are quite welcome. Though," he began, and she winced at his admonishing tone. "I _did_ tell you to be responsible last night, and you went overboard anyway!" One hand was on his hip, the other pointing at Holly. "If you did not know your own limits, you should have slowed down. And you should have been drinking more water during the night!" He looked away from her for a moment to fix Sans with his stern glare. "And _you_ should have watched our friend more closely and stopped her from having too much! This is why I do not like drinking, it impairs your ability to think clearly." But the shorter skeleton wasn't paying full attention. "Sans! Are you listening?" Papyrus groused, but Sans pointed.

"Uh, bro. You might wanna…"

Papyrus looked back over at Holly, the irritation still plain in his face, but the look slid right off his features when he caught her expression. Her eyes were wide and shining, lips trembling miserably.

"Human? What is wrong?" Papyrus asked, immediately striding over to her. She sniffled and tilted her head down so her wet hair covered her face. She shook her head. "Holly?" The tall skeleton looked frantically to Sans for help, but he shrugged helplessly.

"I'm sorry," she said in a tiny voice. "I didn't mean to worry you." She sensed his unease at her side.

"It is all right. We all just want to make sure you don't make yourself sick," Papyrus told her in a gentle voice. He petted the top of her head before pulling her into his long-limbed embrace. He looked over at Sans and jerked his head meaningfully. The shorter skeleton hesitated, shrugged, and then joined in on her other side.

"Hey. It's a human sandwich," he joked, keeping his touch much lighter than his brother.

Holly huffed out a laugh. "Saaaaaans," she groaned. Secretly, she liked the affection from the both of them; it made her feel safe, secure. _Loved_. Without thinking much about it, she leaned back into Sans's bony shoulder, sighing contentedly. That was one thing about the skeleton brothers: both of them felt warm, alive. It was strange, seeing as they were both literally just bones, but… it was comforting. Papyrus had a certain scent to him she recognized, like marinara sauce and what she _swore_ was sometimes a hint of dog. It was familiar and made her happy.

Sans, though… she didn't often have the opportunity to get physically close to him, so his scent was always surprising in a nice way. He smelled like salt—the seasoned kind you put on French fries—tomatoes and vinegar, and something dark, like the musk of overturned leaf piles in Autumn.

She must have lingered there just a touch too long for comfort, because he was backing away and steadying her shoulders so she didn't fall. He cleared his throat. "Uh, little dizzy still, huh?" His face had that light dusting of blue across the cheekbones like she'd seen at the kitchen table. Holly blinked slowly, her brain having to work at half-time today. Her eyes widened when she realized that she'd gotten too cuddly and she sputtered.

"Oh, uh. Sorry," she apologized, twisting a lock of wet hair between her fingers. She felt Papyrus's eyes on her; he was unusually quiet, just watching the two of them. "I need to, uh. Get back to my apartment at some point," Holly said, changing the subject, but Papyrus was having none of it.

"Oh no you don't! You need to recover, and as much as I hate to encourage Sans's bad habits, you should relax today. Stay here, I will make you something to eat!" He gave the top of her head another affectionate little pat. "If you end up spending the night again, you can simply wear another of Sans's outfits." He bustled off, leaving Holly red in the face. She glanced at the shorter skeleton again, who was muttering something and walking away in a hurry. His face was still blue, and suddenly she knew why he'd been odd about Undyne helping her get changed last night.

 _She'd spent the night in Sans's clothes?_

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks goes out to Akinai_Sere and CadetSparkleWolf for being my betas.**

 **Please check out Akinai_Sere's Undertale fic, "Faded", only on Ao3! She's just started, but I've known her for quite a while and she is an excellent writer. I highly recommend following her story ^^**


	15. ASGORE

Alphys really hated earbuds. The darn things never stayed where they were supposed to go, especially since her ears were reptilian and had nowhere for them to catch. It was a good thing Toriel had masking tape in one of her kitchen drawers, or she'd have to watch her anime with the sound on where everyone could hear them, and that was simply not an option with the type of shows Alphys liked to watch.

It was just getting to a particularly romantic bit, with the protagonist's eyes glimmering as she stared into the eyes of her love interest, when the cell phone on the table began vibrating and playing a loud song.

Alphys jumped in her seat and grabbed the phone, nearly dropping it in panic. She touched the green 'answer' button and stammered into the receiver.

"H-hello?"

" _Howdy, Alphys, it's been quite a while!"_ came an impossibly deep, friendly voice on the other line. Alphys blinked and pushed her glasses up by the center piece over her nose.

"Asgore! H-hi! Um," she stammered. "How… how are you?"

The voice at the other end stopped to chuckle good-naturedly. _"I've been all right. Busy as usual, as much as I dislike dealing with politics. But I called to check on_ you _, my dear,"_ he said. _"I have not seen you since the… incident, and I have been worried about your well-being. Are you busy today?"_

The yellow monster's face burned. Though she was deeply in love with Undyne, something about the former king's reassuring voice and gentle concern flustered her. "U-um, not really? But I was g-going to visit a friend of mine today. She's staying with P-Papyrus and Sans," she told him. "I-it was Halloween last night and Undyne, er… wanted to celebrate…"

Asgore let out a short bark of laughter on the other end. _"Let me guess, she drank your friend under the table? Dear me, that girl..."_

Alphys giggled along with him. "Y-yeah, pretty much. B-but, yeah, I was going to visit sometime today. Did you want to… um, come along? Maybe?"

" _That seems like a good idea. I would like to see Frisk, but Toriel, ah…"_

"Y-yeah, it's okay. Though maybe you could p-pick me up? It's on the way. I-if it isn't too much bother!"

" _Not at all! I shall see you soon."_

* * *

"Papyrus… this is _so_ bad."

The two of them sat on the living room couch, munching at leftover spaghetti warmed up in their Tupperware containers. Sans was absent; he had an afternoon shift at a nearby café, where he apparently worked. Holly had been the tiniest bit disappointed that he wasn't going to be home to hang out, but she quickly squashed that feeling down. People had lives, and making them feel guilty for that would be very selfish. She did want to spend more time with the elder brother, though; she was just starting to feel as though they were bonding a bit. Sans was much more reserved than his brother, but it didn't mean that she couldn't appreciate his company as much as Papyrus's.

Voices blared from the television as a woman with wind-blown hair and a flowing white dress sang alongside a handsome robot in a romantic musical number. Holly recognized Mettaton, though she hadn't known he had performed in several Bollywood movies.

"I BEG YOUR PARDON! Mettaton is an artist!" the tall skeleton protested, his eye sockets practically sparkling as he brought his clasped hands up to his chin. "He was a star in the underground! He even had his own resort!" Papyrus sighed wistfully. "Ah, I wish I could be as popular as he is. It must be wonderful."

Holly wanted to mention that fame often caused unending stress for movie stars on the surface, but she refrained from crushing her friend's dreams. She shrugged and went back to watching the movie.

A timid knock came at the door and Papyrus immediately rushed to answer it, flinging it open to reveal Alphys and—Holly choked on the spaghetti she'd just taken a bite of.

A huge monster, easily two feet taller than Papyrus, hunched in the doorway. Holly recognized him as the monster in one of the pictures in Frisk's room, though right now he was currently wearing a large short-sleeve button-down with floral designs down one side and a pair of khaki shorts. He wore no shoes—probably because his very large paws were an odd shape and far too large for anything made for humans. It was crazy enough he'd found _clothing_ in his size.

"Oh! Your majesty!" Papyrus greeted, sounding surprised. "And Dr. Alphys! Come inside, it's so nice of you to visit!"

The monster Papyrus had greeted as 'your majesty' chuckled, his laughter sounding like rolling thunder. "Just 'Asgore' is all right, Papyrus," he corrected, his eyes seeking out Holly as she stared. He gave her a very warm smile that made his eyes crinkle. "Howdy! I have heard a lot about you, human. Your name is Holly, correct?" He'd crossed the room in just three strides and held out a huge paw.

Holly realized that her mouth was slightly open and she closed it, blinking and trying to recover from her initial shock. Asgore towered over her, even as he hunched to try and meet her height.

 _This monster has killed children who probably didn't even reach his knee in size…_

The invasive thought made her cautious, even though Asgore exuded calmness and civility. She reached out her hand to shake his, though she could really only grab two of his fingers to reciprocate the gesture. "Y-yes, it is," she finally answered, straightening as much as she could. It didn't make all that much difference.

"I'll make some tea! Undyne has some here for when she visits. You can sit in the living room, if you'd like!" Papyrus said, immediately going into the kitchen. Holly smiled; it was adorable when the younger skeleton acted as a fussy host.

The remaining three found seats in the living room. Alphys looked between her human friend and Asgore, fidgeting slightly, but the huge boss monster attempted conversation before the silence could get awkward.

"I apologize that I did not make it out to visit sooner," he said, his enormous weight making the couch creak dangerously. "Are you and Undyne well, Alphys?"

The much shorter monster shook her head. "Y-you already apologized," Alphys said. "At least _you_ called and left messages…" she muttered under her breath, a note of uncharacteristic bitterness entering her tone. Holly gave her a worried glance, but the monster was already moving on. "And w-we're great! Undyne is…" Her eyes went a little fuzzy, the corners of her mouth turning up. "Undyne is really great. We both work a lot, but w-we've managed to m-make some time for each other."

"Ah, I am glad to hear it." Asgore fixed Holly with his gaze, which, though gentle, managed to pin her in place. "So, tell me, human. How is it that you came to be friends with so many of us?"

Holly regaled Asgore with the story of how she awkwardly managed to befriend Alphys and Undyne before meeting the others, becoming close despite the circumstances of their meeting. She left out the part where Sans had remained suspicious of her for quite a while, instead playing up the happy moments with her new friends. His face went slack with surprise for a brief moment when she talked about how Undyne demanded a dance, as if to make Holly prove her worth. He laughed good-naturedly when she concluded the story, however. His easygoing attitude made it easier for her to talk, and soon her cheerful personality presented itself.

"…And then Sans just appears with this trombone, right—which I figured out was a pun later, by the way—and then Paps and I started dancing. I mean, I'm not very good at it, but Papyrus was great at leading me around, at least."

"Of course I was! I am very great at everything," came said skeleton's voice as he came back with several mugs on a tray. The amber liquid in each cup rippled slightly as he carefully placed them down. "You should give yourself more credit, though! Though you weren't as amazing as _I_ was, you, too, have some dancing talent."

"Y-yeah! Holly is really good. I m-mean, for someone with no training o-or anything," Alphys added. Holly felt her face warm.

"Pfff, guys…" She waved off their praise with embarrassment and plunked two sugarcubes into her tea. "So, Undyne's supposed to come soon, right?" she asked, attempting to change the subject. Alphys adjusted her glasses and pulled out her cell phone to check the time.

"Yeah, actually. She should show up any sec—"

As if on cue, the door banged open wide, revealing the fish monster with the pointiest grin Holly had seen on her face yet.

"HEY ASGORE! WHERE THE HELL'VE YOU BEEN?!" Undyne roared immediately upon entry. Her hair was pulled back into her usual ponytail, but she was wearing a dark uniform that had patches on the sleeves and the word "SECURITY" in bold, embroidered letters on the front and back of the shirt.

Asgore stood immediately and, with shocking quickness for someone his size, made his way over to Undyne who threw herself at him with a shriek of joy. The boss monster caught her and spun in a circle to counter her momentum.

"I t-texted her to let her know he was here," Alphys said happily. "Th-they go way back…"

"I can tell," Holly commented with some amusement, watching as Undyne managed to grab one of Asgore's horns so she could mess with his floppy ears. Though, as strong as Undyne was, Holly had the distinct impression that Asgore was letting her do what she wanted to him. He just seemed so… _powerful_. Even Undyne seemed small in his presence, which was saying something for the seven-foot fish monster.

Asgore must have been very used to Undyne's brand of affection, if his ever-smiling face was anything to go by. It was no surprise at all when the fish monster held out a hand in invitation, her visible eye shining brightly.

"C'mon! It's been ages, let's dance!" she crowed. The boss monster took her outstretched hand in his, giving a sort of deep nod.

"I'd be delighted, of course."

Holly was suddenly paying very close attention, having never seen two monsters dance together. She also had no clue what the former king's dance could be, though she had no doubt that he'd be impressive doing it. Undyne straightened her shoulders, grinning up at Asgore as they assumed a starting position. The way their hands were placed, and the space between them… Holly could instantly tell it would be a sort of ballroom dance.

Without any need for musical prompt, they began their dance in the broad space of the living room. The two moved in sweeping circles, moving to a nonexistent beat with perfect timing. Instead of her usual capoeira, Undyne was leading the larger monster immaculately, as if she was born to do this dance. For some reason, when she moved like this, Holly could perfectly picture her as the captain of the Royal Guard. She certainly had a surprising knack for decorum.

Asgore was gentle and graceful in an effortless sort of way. He looked as if he'd done this thousands of times—which, for all Holly knew, could have very well been the case.

Their souls (or, as Sans had revealed, the _echoes_ of their souls) began to appear very quickly, though something was odd. Instead of seeing normal, brightly-colored heart shapes, the echoes that appeared were white. They also seemed to be flipped upside-down. Holly frowned and nudged Alphys.

"Um… why do their souls look like that?" she questioned. Alphys blinked in confusion before realization dawned on her features.

"Ohhh! I forgot that they look different for you." She straightened her glasses and began explaining in what Holly referred to as 'nerd voice'. She stuttered a lot less like this, but often sounded a bit like a textbook. "So, human souls look like what you've seen. They are flipped and they are usually bright colors instead of white, like monsters'. Monsters are comprised of magic, and each type of magic usually has a specific color." She gestured towards the dancing monsters. "If you look carefully, you can see their magical aura, which exhibits their specific color. The soul itself is white, because monsters have so much magic that it registers as the presence of all color, which is—"

"White," Holly finished, nodding in interest. She didn't know a lot about magic, but she knew colors, at least. She _was_ an artist. "So, humans don't have magic, right? Why aren't our souls black?"

"There isn't an absence of magic in humans. Not completely," Alphys answered, seeming pleased that Holly was showing interest. "It's just inert. There were once humans who knew how to use this magic, though it took many human mages to match the magic of a single monster." She seemed uncomfortable for a moment, but shook it off. "Humans still have a color. Their aura, per se. For example, your purple soul could suggest that you have magic that limits movement."

"Huh. But I can't use that because I'm not a mage," Holly clarified, noting how odd this conversation was. Three years ago, monsters, souls, and magic were all things from a fairytale… but now a nerdy dinosaur was explaining soul magic to her.

' _What a time to be alive,'_ Holly thought, almost laughing aloud. Instead, she asked, "So, why dancing?"

Alphys tilted her head, seeming to try and come up with the best answer. "I'm not sure how th-that came about, really," she admitted. "But it has many purposes. F-for example, bonding, or 'testing' a partner, like Undyne did the first time you danced," she said. "Dancing for short periods of time gives each participant a basic understanding of the other—their main qualities, like personality traits. Some say that auras and colors are representative of a specific personality trait, but the way those traits are presented in each individual…" she trailed off, frowning. "It's different for everyone. L-like… justice, for example! It doesn't always mean that a person is good and just." Holly nodded at her to continue. "If a person is bad, or had a twisted sense of what is 'right' and 'wrong', then their justice would be warped from what a 'good' person's justice would be."

"That's… huh. That's really cool," Holly commented, mulling over all the new information. "So, to go back to my first question… why do the soul echoes look different for me when I dance with you guys?"

Alphys hesitated, fidgeting with her claws as she always did when she was anxious. "W-well… human souls are always more powerful than a monster's. E-even, human children eh heh…" She glanced away. "If a human really wanted to, th-they could hurt us very badly. Intentions are everything with souls, s-so if you had the desire to do harm…" she trailed off and glanced back up at Holly, who had gone quiet. "Even in a dance meant to b-bond with each other, you could p-potentially, uh. N-n-not that I think y-you would!" she stammered, seeming sheepish and uncomfortable.

"No, I wouldn't," Holly said quietly, her mind suddenly full as she realized the implications of her monster friend's explanation.

Her eyes fell upon the elated face of Undyne as she danced with who was obviously a father figure for her. Her friends… Undyne, who had tested her, Alphys, who was sweet and eager, Papyrus, who saw the best in everyone. All of them had trusted Holly with their souls—their _monster_ souls, which were so fragile compared to her human soul. She couldn't help but to feel touched that they would share that part of themselves with her, and she realized now why Sans had been so vigilant. Holly could have utterly _crushed_ Papyrus during their dance, if she'd so chosen.

The thought sent a chill up her spine, and she reflexively grabbed the tall skeleton's hand and gave him a friendly grin when he blinked down at her, not having been paying attention to Alphys's magic lesson. Holly reached her hand out to Alphys, too, who smiled shyly but laid her claws in the human's palm.

Oh, how dearly she already loved all these monsters. She would never let anything bad happen to them as long as her heart was still beating.

* * *

 **A/N: Special thanks to Akinai_Sere and CadetSparkleWolf for being my beta readers!**


	16. The Long and Short

The fish monster looked amused when her human friend's jaw dropped. "So… you didn't…"

"Have parents?" Undyne asked, making Holly wince. The monster took the tie out of her hair, letting it cascade over her shoulders. This didn't escape Alphys; she made a very slight whining noise next to them. "Nah. I mean, I had Asgore. And Gerson, to an extent," she said, giving her friend a small smile.

Holly and her friends sat around the table once more, chatting about the Underground. Undyne and Asgore had begun talking about how they came to be so close, which, in turn, approached the subject of Undyne's childhood.

She'd been a child raised by a village, essentially, though that tough, street-smart streak had never really gone away as she grew up. It made sense, really—Undyne was so tough in both attitude and actual strength, and Holly could easily imagine a child Undyne fighting off monsters who decided to pick on the urchin kid.

"Gerson?" Holly asked, tilting her head. She seemed to recall the name, though from where, she wasn't sure.

"Yeah. He's _super_ old. Like, he was alive back when the monsters were at war with humans," Undyne said. "He fought in it alongside Asgore, as the captain of the Royal Guard."

Holly blinked. "He's… monsters can be that old? _You're_ that old?" she asked incredulously, staring over at Asgore. The boss monster chuckled, his gargantuan shoulders shaking.

"Yes. There are only a few rare monsters who live to be my age," he told her. "Tortoise monsters—like Gerson—happen to have quite extensive lifespans. Boss monsters, like myself, can live indefinitely if we aren't killed in battle." His features sagged slightly. "The only way we age and die naturally is if we rear children."

The room went quiet, for reasons that were lost on Holly. Undyne spoke up before it stretched on for too long. "…So, yeah. The two of them taught me how to fight," she said. "Gerson tried to get me to learn boring stuff, like meditating. Which was the _worst_ ," she groaned. "With Asgore, I just sorta… made him fight me." She gave an unashamed smirk.

"She was quite, ah… _determined_ to defeat me," Asgore added, a smile quirking the side of his muzzle. The teacup he held looked comical in his giant paws, but somehow his touch was gentle enough not to crack the ceramic. "I am sure she has already told you the details," he added, his eyes flicking to her with amusement.

She grinned up at him. "Psh, yeah, but it's always cool to hear it again! You put up a good fight for an old fluffy pushover," she said, her smile turning into a smirk.

He chuckled good-naturedly.

It was odd; Holly felt so at ease around this huge monster, even with the knowledge she had about him from Undyne. And the fish monster clearly adored Asgore, despite the barbed comments. It was her strange way of showing affection.

"King Asgore, perhaps you and I should spar sometime!" Papyrus piped up, having been unnaturally quiet during their conversation. Holly suspected it had something to do with how much he admired Undyne, and hearing about her past. The thought warmed her.

"I would very much enjoy that, Papyrus," the boss monster answered, not bothering to correct the skeleton on the use of titles. Papyrus was fond of decorum. "Perhaps the next time I come for a visit, we can get to know each other through a friendly fight. Undyne tells me that you can be quite strong."

The skeleton's face lit up with orange. "Oh! Er—she, um, does?" he asked timidly, giving his best friend a happy look. Undyne was rubbing the back of her neck with embarrassment. "I-I mean, of course she does! I AM VERY GREAT."

Alphys, who had allowed herself to remain unnoticed in the midst of conversation, giggled behind her claws. Undyne's gaze turned to look over at her, fondness softening her features before she yawned. Holly caught a glimpse of the inside of the monster's mouth, intimidated when she saw shark-like rows of teeth lining it. No wonder Undyne's teeth were always perfectly sharp…

"Man, I'm beat. I'm gonna crash after my all-nighter, if that's all right, Paps," she said, to which Papyrus nodded enthusiastically.

"Of course! Besties always sleep over at each others' houses," he said warmly. Her eye creased in a smile and she clapped him on the shoulder. She gave Alphys a quick kiss goodnight, ruffled Holly's hair, and tugged at Asgore's large horn before heading down the hallway and into Papyrus's room.

"Sleep well, Undyne. I will likely be gone by the time you wake, but I will try to visit again soon," Asgore added, to which Undyne nodded.

"I'll keep ya to that, Fluffybuns. G'night, guys!" she called. They wouldn't hear her snores moments later due to the excellent soundproofing in that room.

"So, my dear," Asgore began, placing his teacup down and directing his attention at Holly. "I have heard the story of how you met Undyne and Alphys, and how you've managed to charm Frisk and my—Toriel."

"Yeah?" Holly questioned, giving Alphys a sidelong glance. She blushed and gave Holly a sheepish look. "At least people say good things when they talk about me," she teased. The boss monster's dark eyes warmed at this.

"Indeed. It is… rare that a human should befriend a monster, let alone many. I must ask—what is it that draws you to us?" His voice was friendly enough, but there was a level of carefulness to it that gave away his protective probing.

"Well… I must admit, I was curious about monsters in general, before ever meeting anyone in person," Holly started. "I heard about Alphys and Undyne living in the apartments and wanted to get to know them. People had been… talking about them." She shifted uncomfortably, frowning at the recent memories of what happened there. "I invited them in because I wanted to meet them. I was excited to learn more about monsters in general."

Asgore hummed thoughtfully and stroked his beard. "Curiosity is much better than fear, which is the first reaction from many humans," he sighed. "I believe you are the first human to dance with any monsters, aside from Frisk."

Holly's eyebrows raised high. "What, really? Even after three years of living up here?"

"Yes! And it is very exciting to have another human as a dance partner," Papyrus piped up. "Sans is always loath to let any humans dance with me. I even wanted to on the first day we met, but…" His eyes darted to the side. "My brother can be so suspicious. He even wanted me to wait to dance with you, Holly! But I insisted, and of course I was right about you."

Holly blushed, but a pleased smile worked its way across her features. "Well, I enjoyed dancing with you very much, Papyrus." She was also very flattered and happy that Undyne and Alphys had danced with her, as well. It further proved that the monsters had gone out on a limb when trusting her enough to let her befriend them.

Really, though, she had Alphys to thank the most. If the shy monster hadn't kept in contact and befriended her, Holly wouldn't have gotten into Undyne's reluctant graces, and in turn she wouldn't have met the skeleton brothers or any of the other monsters.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Asgore cleared his throat and straightened in his seat, directing his attention at Alphys. "Dr. Alphys, I am afraid I did not simply come here for a visit," he started, his tone laced with resignation. The dinosaur monster stiffened next to Holly. "I know it must be very hard to think about, but it is important that I hear, from you, what happened in the apartment when you were attacked."

A powerful silence filled the room as both Papyrus and Holly looked to their small yellow friend, who fidgeted uncomfortably. "I-I… um, all right…"

"Is this… couldn't you have asked Undyne this instead?" Holly frowned up at Asgore, who shook his shaggy head.

"I am sorry, but I must hear it from the one who endured the abuse," he said. "It is my duty to know what happens to my people at the hands of humans." To his credit, he seemed unhappy about it.

"I-it's okay," Alphys said in a small voice. "He's r-right, I just…"

Holly didn't say anything, but she took her friend's hand, thumbing the warm scales comfortingly. Papyrus got up, murmuring something about making her another cup of tea. He placed a large hand on her shoulder on the way by. Visibly steeling herself, Alphys took a deep breath and began.

It had been a quiet night at the apartments. Usually, there was some dog barking, or children screaming at their mothers, or people with their television on far too loud. But that night, there was only the sound of crickets and the buzzing of the hot fridge in their kitchen.

Alphys was lost in her paperwork, almost finished grading essays, when there was a knock at the door. Assuming that it was Holly, who didn't yet have a key to their apartment, Alphys threw the door open without hesitation. But instead of her friend, there stood three imposing human men wearing masks. There wasn't much time for her to react when one of them grabbed Alphys by the front of her shirt and tossed her bodily, before barging their way inside.

They yelled in loud, ugly voices, spewing obscenities at her as she struggled to get up. Their favorite was referring to her as a 'thing', or a 'beast'. Alphys had automatically gone to try and find her glasses, still in a bit of shock, when one of the men strode over to her.

She heard, rather than saw, the other two men ripping apart the apartment and smashing everything, as the third gave her a vicious kick to the abdomen. She'd hunched over, heaving and breathless, and the man kept attacking her again and again… Knowing she could die, Alphys curled into the tightest ball she could, protecting her vulnerable body parts.

She heard them talk to one another and say that the destruction they'd caused was enough for them to be initiated into some sort of gang. Alphys lay perfectly still, hoping they were satisfied.

Apparently they weren't.

The man who'd thrown her aside in the first place picked her up again, apparently fond of feeling larger than a monster. She remained limp, hoping that these men didn't know that monsters turned to dust when dead. She recalled the somewhat nervous tone of one of the men asking if they really needed to hurt her any further for the purposes of being initiated. The one holding her made a negative grunting noise, seeming to share the feeling of nervousness and doubt, even after all they'd done.

After checking her over, the man dropped her carelessly. She fell from great enough height that when her head struck the floor, she was knocked unconscious. The next time she woke, she was at Toriel's house, lying in Undyne's lap.

Alphys had begun trembling midway through speaking, so Holly had scooted closer to put an arm around her shoulders. At this point, she was shivering like a child with a fever. The human shot Asgore a glare over her glasses, jade eyes flashing. He seemed taken aback by this at first, but then he glanced away, seeming guilty.

Papyrus had been wringing his hands throughout the story, and now he looked near tears. Holly pressed her mouth into a line, wondering if she should have sent him away for this. Sans would probably be unhappy; though Papyrus was not a child, he had the innocence of one, and hated violence.

Mostly, Holly was floored by the sheer horrible violence those men had been capable of. She also noticed that Alphys had left out the fact that she'd only fallen unconscious near the end of the attack, and not near the start. She'd been forced to hear them break apart their home, call her filthy names. Thinking of her small form lying there, pretending to be dead or unconscious… Holly's arms rippled with gooseflesh.

"I am sorry to make you relive such terrible things, my dear," Asgore said finally, reaching out to comfort Alphys. Smug satisfaction reared its ugly head when Alphys flinched away from Asgore. Holly squashed that down quickly, feeling immediately ashamed.

"I… I will go make everyone dinner," Papyrus announced, standing and walking quickly towards the kitchen with his face turned away. Holly suspected that he left to go be upset by himself and she frowned, looking between him and Alphys.

"Go to him, I will comfort our friend here," Asgore told her gently. She hesitated, looking surprised when Alphys spoke up.

"I-it's okay," she said to Holly, giving her a reassuring look and glancing over at the monster king. "H-he's… it's all right."

Pursing her lips at Asgore one last time, the human finally relented and went to the younger of the skeleton brothers in the kitchen.

As she suspected, Papyrus was shakily finding ingredients for spaghetti and sniffling, occasionally wiping his face with the back of his glove. Holly cleared her throat and he jumped a little, turning to look towards the source of the sound. His cheekbones were shining with tears.

"You shouldn't have had to hear that, Paps," she told him, crossing the room and holding his hand. She had to crane her neck up to look at him properly. "I'm sorry it upset you."

He sniffed and gave her a smile. "Oh, it is all right, human. I…" he glanced away from her, brow bones drawn together in an unfamiliar crease. "I am aware that many bad things have happened to monsters because of some humans. And… a lot of them say cruel things to me when I go out." His shoulders drooped as he spoke.

Holly rubbed his arm, coming closer to him. "Oh, Papyrus…"

He stopped and looked at her as if he hadn't noticed her before, seeming alarmed. "I, I am sorry, human, I didn't mean to upset you!" The tall skeleton straightened up and turned to continue bustling in the kitchen, muttering to himself. "N-now, where did those spaghetti noodles go?"

Frowning, Holly tugged at his arm again. Papyrus was practically bristling with nervous energy—there was no way she could leave it at that. "Papyrus."

"And of course we'll need… ah, yes, I've been using onions in my recipe now, they really do give it that extra kick!" He grabbed a large white onion and put it on the counter.

"Papyrus, look at me," she said, more firmly. He acted as though he hadn't heard, rummaging through the cabinets for pots and pans. "Hey!" She tugged harder at his arm, getting him to turn halfway around.

Fresh tears were making trails down his cheekbones and his shoulders were shaking. He wouldn't meet her eyes.

Silence fell between them for a few moments. "Holly, I—" He was interrupted when she wrapped her arms around his bony frame, surrounding him in contrasting softness. He stiffened, and for a moment she was afraid he'd refuse this—refuse to be comforted by someone instead of the opposite, for a change. But then his hands settled on her back and reciprocated the gesture, trembling.

They stayed like that for a good few minutes before he tried to speak again. "I'm sorry," he said thickly. "You shouldn't be the one to cheer me, human, it is I who should… should be…"

"Papyrus, shh," Holly said, closing her eyes and leaning her face against his chest. His prominent ribs were slightly uncomfortable, but she didn't mind. She heard him sniffle at a more frequent rate and she rubbed his back, making soothing noises.

This was something that she knew how to do. Being an older sibling, taking care of someone who was upset… it was familiar. Routine. Though he was taller (and also an actual skeleton monster), Papyrus reminded Holly strongly of Michelle, and so her protective instincts transferred over to him as well. She wondered if he let go like this often enough to be healthy, but his behavior pointed towards 'no'.

So Holly would do what she did best, and cheer up the skeleton. Once he'd cried his way into relative silence, she backed away, gave him a soft smile, and turned to help him start dinner. "Hey, this time we'll have actual spaghetti noodles instead of penne!" she remarked. He gave her a bright smile, though his face was still wet.

"Yes! And I think Sans likes these better, too," he said, turning on the sink to fill a pot with water. "He says it mixes better with his ketchup."

Holly wrinkled her nose while adding salt to the water. "Why does he do that? Put ketchup in everything, I mean?"

Papyrus paused in thought. "You know, I am not certain. But he feels that he _mustard_ have it with every meal," he said, grinning and looking just like his brother in that instant. The two of them laughed and talked as they cooked together, the mood instantly getting lighter.

* * *

 **A/N: Hey guys! I'm so sorry it's been so long, y'know how life is. Here's a chapter for ya! Don't forget I've got a tumblr where there's super fun fanart and stuff! Check me out at zorayda-writes! The tag there is 'sots art' and contains stuff by yours truly and my amazing, beautiful fans 3**

 **I'd like to thank my sister and CadetSparkleWolf for beta reading!**


	17. Grown-up Bones

The music was loud and tinny, coming from the old and battered boombox Sans had found in the dump. Something with a deep bass played—not the music of their choice for this sort of thing, but the beat was good enough for its purpose.

Two monster children played in the snow nearby. The cap that the elder child wore had faded, with threads dangling in places; the scarf the younger one wore was tattered and dirty.

The taller of the two (relatively speaking; he couldn't have reached over four and a half feet) and obviously the elder held the younger child's hands, leading him in a sort of dance. He coached his brother through the movements before letting go. Excitedly, the younger child took a few steps to the beat, grinning wildly; but then his foot caught against the other and he cried out as his knees hit the ground. He wailed in frustration, falling onto his backside and hitting his little mittened hands on the ground.

"Try it again, bro," the elder skeleton brother coaxed, but his little brother stayed where he fell in the snow, pouting.

"Ugh, it's not like it will make any difference," the younger brother snapped, his face set into a scowl. The missing front tooth made the expression a lot less scary than intended. "You're just so good without even _trying_ , Sans! And I've been practicing every day for _hours…_ " His face softened into something less outwardly angry, and more frustrated with himself. Sans knelt down, his grin less wide.

"Hey, nobody's dance is the same, Paps," he reassured, but his brother's face only sank deeper into the oversized red scarf as he looked stubbornly away. Sans laughed under his breath and touched Papyrus's small shoulder. "If my dance is as good as you think it is, and I'm not even tryin'," he reasoned, "then imagine what yours will be like when you really do try." Papyrus didn't turn his face, but he was eyeing Sans sideways, as if trying to hide his interest. "C'mon, I bet it'll be really cool," Sans grinned, winking.

"Saaaaans, now isn't the time for your weird jokes," Papyrus muttered, hiding his smile unsuccessfully into his tattered old coat. "You really… think it'll be cool?"

Sans's eye sockets crinkled at the bottom. "'Course I do. You're the coolest kiddo I know." He scooped his smaller brother into one arm, holding steady as Papyrus squirmed and screeched.

"Noooo! Sans, lemme go!" His giggles were almost like squeals as Sans rubbed his bony knuckles across his brother's skull, minding the tiny flailing legs. Papyrus's too-large boots nearly fell off his feet. "Don't noogie meeeee!"

"Okay." Sans dropped his brother back into the wet and cold snow, to which Papyrus shrieked in dismay.

"You're going to pay for that, brother!" he shouted, but Sans dodged out of the way of his brother's dive, shrugging.

"Oh yeah? Why don't ya challenge me to a dance-off, bro?" he suggested slyly. The smaller skeleton's face was set, determined. Sans's smile widened.

"You think you can defeat the Great Papyrus? I don't think you can, brother!" Papyrus challenged, standing up to his tallest height possible. The winter wind blew and teased at his old, tattered clothing, red scarf whipping behind him. Sans chuckled. His brother really _was_ cool… Papyrus just needed to be reminded sometimes.

"Well, let's find out," Sans shot back, lowering his center of gravity. The song boomed behind them and the two of them danced until dusk. That day, much to Sans's pride, Papyrus had discovered his dance, spurred on by his big brother's encouragement.

* * *

Sans unlocked his door and trudged inside, kicking off his shoes with a small sigh of relief. Work had been a fairly normal day, which meant a lot of insults flung his way and insinuations that being a monster would dirty everyone's coffee. It wasn't all bad, though; what he'd said to Holly when they first met was true. There were the bad people, and sometimes the occasional truly awful person… but there were also the kind, polite people, and sometimes that one person who went out of their way to be really stellar. Those people made up for all the racism and impatience Sans had to put up with on a day-to-day basis.

Today, there was one customer who had barely looked up from her phone to place her order. When she did happen to glance up, her lip curled in disgust. The first thing out of her mouth was to ask if her latté was going to have rotten dead people bits in it if Sans handled her drink. He was about to explain for the umpteenth time that he was a skeleton monster, not a literal human skeleton, when someone behind the customer had spoken up for him.

"Wow, that's fuckin' rude. He's a monster, not a dead body. Don't be an asshole," he'd said, looking at the woman with plain dislike on his face.

The bickering between the two of them had been amusing, even though Sans really couldn't interfere unless a physical fight broke out. It'd ended with the woman huffing and walking off to wait for her order to come out, and Sans giving the kind customer an employee discount on his order. He had been a nurse at the local hospital, so it really did make a difference in the price with all the coffee he bought for his co-workers and himself.

Despite the kindness of those occasional humans, however, it seemed that none really wanted to actually _befriend_ a monster. There were nice co-workers, the Good Samaritan passing by, little kids who were fascinated with the idea of them. But when monsters were still so new and different, humans were still frightened by them. And it was difficult to start being friends with someone who frightened you.

So it was with a lot of confusion and skepticism that Sans regarded Holly. She had approached them first, had been curious and wanting to get to know them. She seemed genuinely excited to be around them, learn their customs. Hell, she didn't really bat an eye at his teleportation magic, or even the concept of souls being real, tangible things. She'd really just… fallen into their lives, accepting all parts of them.

Sans's gaze fell upon his kid brother, fast asleep on the couch and snoring softly. Sans stifled a quiet laugh; Papyrus denied he snored at all, and would be offended when anyone suggested otherwise. His grin dimmed in the next second when he saw that Papyrus's head was leaning into the human's. Holly had her forearms wrapped around Papyrus's upper arm, leaning her head against it with her knees curled inward. Sans wondered if she was actually comfortable leaning on hard bone. A mix of warmth and unease crept through his soul.

What was really strange about Holly was her personality when compared to her main soul color. Humans had a mixture of all colors, really, and could show positive and negative traits of each color and a rainbow of virtues in between those, but everyone had their "main" color. Holly's was purple, soft like orchid petals. That was perseverance. A bit like determination, but instead of changing every obstacle in their way, people with good perseverance would endure _in spite of_ obstacles in their path. They would mold and change _themselves_ to adapt and survive, not the other way around.

But what confused Sans was that Holly seemed to show kindness above all else. Not that it was impossible for someone with a purple soul to be very kind; it was just strange to see someone not actively showing their main personality trait very much. If Sans had to guess her color without having seen it before, he would have said green. _Heh, like holly leaves._

It was also odd—though not unexpected—to see her dance with his brother and bring out his soul's echo in just one color. Papyrus showed a lot of moral integrity, but his main trait was courage, for certain; so it wasn't surprising when that was the color that showed for Holly. Her human soul was unused to all the magic of a monster's soul, so it only filtered out the main color of Papyrus's magic, instead of the presence of it all in the form of the white soul all monsters had.

Sans wondered what color she would pull out of him, if they ever danced: yellow, or cyan? He knew he had both forms of magic, but he wasn't really sure which one defined him more, personality-wise.

He shook his head. He hadn't danced in years. This strange human may have charmed her way into a dance with his friendly brother, but Sans was not so trusting. She was afraid of him, anyway; not that it was necessarily _her_ fault. He'd been a bit of an ass to appear so threatening to her, though he didn't really regret it. The only thing he _really_ regretted was making her confess something so personal about her life in answer to his demanding questions.

And then learning about the dynamics of her relationship with her mother… well. Holly hadn't gone into too much detail there, but even drunk, she'd shown despair, guilt, grief for the kind of mother she'd never had. He _empathized_ with her, even when he really didn't want to.

He watched them for another moment before heading to the dining room, where Alphys was sitting in the glow of her computer at the table. She had turned all the lights off.

"Hey, Alph," he called out quietly. She jumped and looked up at him as he untied his apron and draped it across a chair before sitting in it. Her glasses reflected the moving images of one of her anime, an earbud dangling where it had fallen out with her movement.

"Oh, h-hey, Sans," she said, seeming relieved that it was just her friend. The two of them weren't overly affectionate or close, like Undyne and Papyrus, but they were good friends all the same. They had a strange history of acquaintance and comradery in the labs, working together. It had turned into a mutual respect and friendship up on the surface when Undyne had started bringing her around to the skeleton brothers' house. "I was just, uh, w-watching a show."

"Yeah? Your girlfriend here?" he asked, glancing around to the kitchen.

"Oh, yeah she is. Undyne b-borrowed your brother's b-bed for a few hours of sleep." She pushed her glasses further up onto her snout. "She w-works odd hours, so…"

Sans nodded, settling back into the chair with a sigh. It felt nice to unwind after all day on his feet. "Mmm. I feel that." His cervical vertebrae cracked as he shifted and stretched.

"So…" Alphys began, watching him carefully over the rim of her glasses. "Asgore stopped by." Sans didn't move in his chair, but his gaze sharpened. "He, um… w-wanted to check up on me. And, um…" she faltered, seeming upset. "H-he wanted to hear my v-version of events…"

Sans tapped his fingers on the edge of the table. "He asked ya with Undyne here?" he asked incredulously. Her face fell, gaze averted, and his grin slid down at the edges. "Or he jus' waited for her to go to bed. Gotcha." He released a breath in mild annoyance, but his face was softened by concern. "You a'right, Alph?"

She nodded and shrugged at the same time. "I g-guess. It was… pretty hard to talk about, i-if I'm being honest," she admitted. "B-but I'll get over it. It's not l-like it's the f-first time Undyne and I have been... t-targeted." Her voice took on a dark tone at the last bit. Undyne was well-known among monster haters as being generally terrifying and the most willing to fight back out of any other monster. Her reputation attracted bold and hateful attackers who wished to be rid of her, or to put her in her place. (Below them. For those horrible humans, monsters were always below them.)

But in the middle of all these attacks was Alphys; shy, soft, weak Alphys, unused to fighting and certainly not equipped with the mental strength to handle that sort of abuse and terror. Each time there was an incident with them, it had taken months for her to recover and get back to a sense of normalcy. Undyne didn't really help with her overprotective nature; it only made the shy monster feel even more helpless, and oftentimes suffocated.

"Brother?"

Sans looked over to see Papyrus rubbing his eye sockets in the same way he had as a babybones. The sight made something swell inside Sans's ribcage.

"Hey, bro. You takin' after me now, huh? Takin' naps on the couch," he teased, winking. Papyrus scowled sleepily, the movement showing his cheekbones better in the light. Sans immediately sobered, seeing familiar streaks down the skeleton's face. "Paps? You been cryin'?" he asked, getting abruptly out of the dining room chair. He gave Alphys a hard glance over his shoulder while reaching for his brother. "What happened?"

"I am offended! Of course the Great Papyrus doesn't—" the taller skeleton began, sounding affronted, but his brother's sharp glare made him falter.

"U-um, when Asgore came to talk, he… we were all…" Alphys began, sounding guilty. Everyone knew how protective Sans could be of Papyrus, shielding him from all the evils of the world he possibly could. But Papyrus was an adult, and the other monsters treated him as such. However, it sometimes meant catching the older skeleton's ire, like now.

Sans gave a short, irritated sigh. "Paps, I'm sorry they… they shoulda talked about that stuff somewhere else," he said to his brother, who was looking more and more uncomfortable by the second. Papyrus shook his head.

"No, Sans. I'm not a babybones anymore, I can handle—"

"But ya hate hearin' about that kinda thing, they shouldn't've—"

"Will you stop _interrupting_ me, Sans!" Papyrus cut in irritably. Sans blinked and quieted down. "No, I do not enjoy hearing about such things. But Alphys is my friend, and I wanted to be with her while she spoke about the awful things that happened to her." The yellow monster gave Papyrus a grateful look. "I only have to hear about it. I did not live it." Sans was silent, watching his brother with a careful gaze. "Besides, our human friend was there and we made dinner! There's spaghetti left on the stove for you!" he said, seeming much happier to change the subject to spaghetti. Sans raised his eyebrows at Alphys, who gave him an affirmative nod.

"Y-yeah. She's really nice," the lizard monster confirmed, her voice a little firmer than usual. She knew that Sans was skeptical of Holly, though she wasn't aware of the reasons behind it. But as Holly's first monster friend, Alphys felt a bit of responsibility to defend her as a good human. Sans was stubborn, but even _he_ couldn't deny that Holly had been nothing but sweet as long as they'd known her.

"That's great, buddy," Sans relented. His frame drooped in acceptance and Alphys felt secretly relieved. She wasn't very good at arguing with anyone, and Sans was especially prone to digging his heels in about anything he felt he was right about. But when it came to their human friend, she thought he seemed unsure of himself, so it was easier to get him to come around. Having Papyrus on her side was a major help.

Sans walked into the kitchen with his brother, seeming to be very small and haggard in Alphys's eyes.

* * *

 **A/N: Thanks to CadetSparkleWolf and my sister for beta reading!**


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